hea r|ing dog (hearing dogs ) N‑COUNT Hearing dogs are dogs that have been specially trained to help deaf people.
hea r|ing-im|paired ADJ A hearing-impaired person cannot hear as well as most people. □ Some hearing-impaired children may work harder to overcome their handicap. ● N‑PLURAL The hearing-impaired are people who are hearing-impaired. This use could cause offence. □ The hearing-impaired say digital phones interfere with hearing aids.
hear|say /h I ə r se I / N‑UNCOUNT Hearsay is information which you have been told but do not know to be true. □ Much of what was reported to them was hearsay.
hearse /hɜː r s/ (hearses ) N‑COUNT A hearse is a large car that carries the coffin at a funeral.
heart ◆◆◇ /hɑː r t/ (hearts )
1 N‑COUNT Your heart is the organ in your chest that pumps the blood around your body. People also use heart to refer to the area of their chest that is closest to their heart. □ The bullet had passed less than an inch from Andrea's heart.
2 N‑COUNT [usu with poss] You can refer to someone's heart when you are talking about their deep feelings and beliefs. [LITERARY ] □ Alik's words filled her heart with pride.
3 N‑VAR You use heart when you are talking about someone's character and attitude towards other people, especially when they are kind and generous. [APPROVAL ] □ She loved his brilliance and his generous heart.
4 N‑SING The heart of something is the most central and important part of it. □ [+ of ] The heart of the problem is supply and demand.
5 N‑SING The heart of a place is its centre. □ [+ of ] …a busy dentists' practice in the heart of London's West End.
6 N‑COUNT A heart is a shape that is used as a symbol of love: ♥. □ …heart-shaped chocolates.
7 N‑UNCOUNT [with sing or pl verb] Hearts is one of the four suits in a pack of playing cards. Each card in the suit is marked with one or more red symbols in the shape of a heart. ● N‑COUNT A heart is a playing card of this suit.
8 PHRASE If you feel or believe something with all your heart , you feel or believe it very strongly. [EMPHASIS ] □ My own family I loved with all my heart.
9 PHRASE If you say that someone is a particular kind of person at heart , you mean that that is what they are really like, even though they may seem very different. □ He was a very gentle boy at heart.
10 PHRASE If you say that someone has your interests or your welfare at heart , you mean that they are concerned about you and that is why they are doing something.
11 PHRASE If someone breaks your heart , they make you very sad and unhappy, usually because they end a love affair or close relationship with you. [LITERARY ]
12 PHRASE If something breaks your heart , it makes you feel very sad and depressed, especially because people are suffering but you can do nothing to help them. □ It really breaks my heart to see them this way.
13 PHRASE If you say that someone has a broken heart , you mean that they are very sad, for example because a love affair has ended unhappily. [LITERARY ] □ She never recovered from her broken heart.
14 PHRASE If you know something such as a poem by heart , you have learned it so well that you can remember it without having to read it. □ Mack knew this passage by heart.
15 PHRASE If someone has a change of heart , their attitude towards something changes. □ Several brokers have had a change of heart about prospects for the company.
16 PHRASE If something such as a subject or project is close to your heart or near to your heart , it is very important to you and you are very interested in it and concerned about it. □ Animal welfare is a subject very close to my heart.
17 PHRASE If you can do something to your heart's content , you can do it as much as you want. □ I was delighted to be able to eat my favorite dishes to my heart's content.
18 CONVENTION You can say ' cross my heart ' when you want someone to believe that you are telling the truth. You can also ask ' cross your heart? ', when you are asking someone if they are really telling the truth. [SPOKEN ] □ I won't tell the girls anything you tell me about it. I promise, cross my heart.
19 PHRASE If you say something from the heart or from the bottom of your heart , you sincerely mean what you say. □ He spoke with confidence, from the heart.
20 PHRASE If something gives you heart , it makes you feel more confident or happy about something. □ It gave me heart to see one thug get what he deserves.
21 PHRASE If you want to do something but do not have the heart to do it, you do not do it because you know it will make someone unhappy or disappointed. □ We knew all along but didn't have the heart to tell her.
22 PHRASE If you believe or know something in your heart of hearts , that is what you really believe or think, even though it may sometimes seem that you do not. □ I know in my heart of hearts that I am the right man for that mission.
23 PHRASE If your heart isn't in the thing you are doing, you have very little enthusiasm for it, usually because you are depressed or are thinking about something else. □ I tried to learn some lines but my heart wasn't really in it.
24 PHRASE If you lose heart , you become sad and depressed and are no longer interested in something, especially because it is not progressing as you would like. □ He appealed to his countrymen not to lose heart.
25 PHRASE If your heart is in your mouth , you feel very excited, worried, or frightened. □ My heart was in my mouth when I walked into her office.