soul S3 W3 /səʊl $ soʊl/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sawol ]
1 . SB’S SPIRIT [countable] the part of a person that is not physical, and that contains their character, thoughts, and feelings. Many people believe that a person’s soul continues to exist after they have died. ⇨ spirit :
the immortality of the soul
It was as if those grey eyes could see into the very depths of her soul.
in sb’s soul
the restlessness deep in his soul
the souls of the dead
2 . PERSON [countable] used in particular phrases to mean a person
happy/sensitive/brave/simple etc soul
He is really quite a sensitive soul.
not a (living) soul (=no one)
I promise I won’t tell a soul.
not a soul in sight/not a soul to be seen
The night was dark and still, and there was not a soul in sight.
poor (old) soul (=used to show pity for someone)
The poor old soul had fallen and broken her hip.
3 . MUSIC ( also soul music ) [uncountable] a type of popular music that often expresses deep emotions, usually performed by black singers and musicians:
He listens to a lot of soul.
a soul band
4 . SENSE OF BEAUTY [uncountable]
a) the ability to be emotionally affected by art, music, literature etc:
My brother thinks that anyone who doesn’t like poetry has no soul.
b) the quality that affects people emotionally, that a painting, piece of music etc can have:
Her performance was technically perfect, but it lacked soul.
5 . SPECIAL QUALITY [uncountable] the special quality or part that gives something its true character
soul of
Basho’s poems capture the true soul of old Japan.
6 . be the soul of discretion to always be extremely careful to keep secrets:
Leon is the very soul of discretion.
7 . be good for the soul if something is good for the soul, it is good for you and you should do it, even though it may seem unpleasant – often used humorously:
They say that hardship is good for the soul.
8 . God rest his/her soul used when you mention the name of someone who is dead:
My father, God rest his soul, died here at Vernison Hall.
9 . PEOPLE IN A PLACE souls [plural] literary the number of souls in a place is the number of people who live there:
a village of two or three hundred souls
10 . bless my soul/upon my soul old-fashioned spoken used to express surprise
⇨ bare your soul at ↑ bare 2 (2), ⇨ be the life and soul of the party at ↑ life (16), ⇨ keep body and soul together at ↑ body (13), ⇨ heart and soul at ↑ heart (2), ⇨ sell your soul (to the devil) at ↑ sell 1 (9)