26 PHRASE If you open your heart or pour out your heart to someone, you tell them your most private thoughts and feelings. □ She opened her heart to millions yesterday and told how she came close to suicide.
27 PHRASE If you say that someone's heart is in the right place , you mean that they are kind, considerate, and generous, although you may disapprove of other aspects of their character. □ He is a bit of a tearaway but his heart is in the right place.
28 PHRASE If you have set your heart on something, you want it very much or want to do it very much. □ He had always set his heart on a career in the fine arts.
29 PHRASE If you wear your heart on your sleeve , you openly show your feelings or emotions rather than keeping them hidden.
30 PHRASE If you put your heart and soul into something, you do it with a great deal of enthusiasm and energy. [EMPHASIS ]
31 PHRASE If you take heart from something, you are encouraged and made to feel optimistic by it.
32 PHRASE If you take something to heart , for example someone's behaviour, you are deeply affected and upset by it. □ If someone says something critical I take it to heart. COLLOCATIONS heart NOUN
2
verb + heart : touch, warm; capture, win
3
adjective + heart : generous, good, kind, warm; heavy
7
noun + heart : artichoke, celery, lettuce
heart|ache /hɑː r te I k/ (heartaches ) also heart-ache N‑VAR Heartache is very great sadness and emotional suffering. □ …after suffering the heartache of her divorce from her first husband.
hea rt at|tack (heart attacks ) N‑COUNT If someone has a heart attack , their heart begins to beat very irregularly or stops completely. □ He died of a heart attack brought on by overwork.
heart|beat /hɑː r tbiːt/ N‑SING [oft poss N ] Your heartbeat is the regular movement of your heart as it pumps blood around your body.
heart|break /hɑː r tbre I k/ (heartbreaks ) N‑VAR Heartbreak is very great sadness and emotional suffering, especially after the end of a love affair or close relationship.
heart|breaking /hɑː r tbre I k I ŋ/ ADJ Something that is heartbreaking makes you feel extremely sad and upset. □ This year we won't even be able to buy presents for our grandchildren. It's heartbreaking.
heart|broken /hɑː r tbroʊkən/ ADJ Someone who is heartbroken is very sad and emotionally upset. □ Was your daddy heartbroken when they got a divorce?
heart|burn /hɑː r tbɜː r n/ N‑UNCOUNT Heartburn is a painful burning sensation in your chest, caused by indigestion.
-hearted /-hɑː r t I d/ COMB -hearted combines with adjectives such as 'kind' or 'cold' to form adjectives which indicate that someone has a particular character or personality or is in a particular mood. □ They are now realising just how much they owe to kind-hearted strangers.
heart|en /hɑː r t ə n/ (heartens , heartening , heartened ) VERB If someone is heartened by something, it encourages them and makes them cheerful. □ [be V -ed] He will have been heartened by the opinion poll published yesterday. □ [V n] The news heartened everybody. ● heart|ened ADJ [v-link ADJ , ADJ that] □ [+ by ] I feel heartened by her progress. ● heart|en|ing ADJ □ This is heartening news.
hea rt fail|ure N‑UNCOUNT Heart failure is a serious medical condition in which someone's heart does not work as well as it should, sometimes stopping completely so that they die.
heart|felt /hɑː r tfelt/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Heartfelt is used to describe a deep or sincere feeling or wish. □ My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all the relatives.
hearth /hɑː r θ/ (hearths ) N‑COUNT The hearth is the floor of a fireplace, which sometimes extends into the room.
hea rth rug (hearth rugs ) also hearthrug N‑COUNT A hearth rug is a rug which is put in front of a fireplace.
heart|land /hɑː r tlænd/ (heartlands )
1 N‑COUNT [oft adj N ] Journalists use heartland or heartlands to refer to the area or region where a particular set of activities or beliefs is most significant. □ [+ of ] …his six-day bus tour around the industrial heartland of America.
2 N‑COUNT The most central area of a country or continent can be referred to as its heartland or heartlands . [WRITTEN ] □ For many, the essence of French living is to be found in the rural heartlands.
heart|less /hɑː r tləs/ ADJ If you describe someone as heartless , you mean that they are cruel and unkind, and have no sympathy for anyone or anything. □ I couldn't believe they were so heartless.
hea rt-rending also heartrending ADJ [usu ADJ n] You use heart-rending to describe something that causes you to feel great sadness and pity. □ …heart-rending pictures of refugees.
heart|strings /hɑː r tstr I ŋz/ N‑PLURAL [oft with poss] If you say that someone or something tugs at your heartstrings , you mean that they cause you to feel strong emotions, usually sadness or pity. □ She knows exactly how to tug at readers' heartstrings.
hea rt-throb (heart-throbs ) N‑COUNT If you describe a man as a heart-throb , you mean that he is physically very attractive, so that a lot of women fall in love with him.