heart

Topic: BIOLOGY

Language:	Old English
Origin:	heorte

heart
noun

heart S1 W1 See pronunciation table in "How to use dictionary" pages

body organ

[countable]HB the organ in your chest which pumps blood through your bodyCOLLOCATIONS

COLLOCATIONS

somebody's heart beats somebody's heart pounds/thuds/thumps (=it beats very strongly) somebody's heart races (=it beats very fast) a weak heart (=an unhealthy heart) heart trouble/problems a heart condition (=something wrong with your heart) somebody's heart rate (=the number of times their heart beats per minute)

Look up a word starting with D or S for samples of headword or sentence pronunciations on the LDOCE CD-ROM

Regular exercise is good for the heart.

Can you hear my heart beating?

Her cheeks were hot and her heart was pounding.

My heart raced. Were we going to land safely?

Daniel had no history of heart problems.

She suffers from a rare heart condition.

His breathing and heart rate were now normal.

emotions/love

[countable] the part of you that feels strong emotions and feelings:

His heart was full of anger and grief.

The plight of the refugees had tugged at the nation's heart.

The doctor had an extremely kind heart.

She could hardly speak for the ache in her heart.

It would break Kate's heart (=make her extremely sad) to leave the lovely old house.

He left the country with a heavy heart (=great sadness).

Edith loved her boy with all her heart and soul.

I was still pretty innocent then when it came to affairs of the heart (=matters relating to love and sex).

a woman with a heart of gold (=very kind character)

Sometimes I think he's got a heart of stone (=very cruel character).

I'm glad I followed my heart rather than my head for once.

My father told me never to let my heart rule my. head.

kind-hearted/cold-hearted/hard-hearted etc (=having a kind, unkind, cruel etc character)

He thinks of himself as a warm-hearted and caring human being.

your chest

[countable usually singular] the part of your chest near your heart:

He put his hand on his heart.

4CF

shape

[countable] a shape used to represent a heart

from the (bottom of your) heart

with great sincerity and strength of feeling:

Leonard spoke from the heart.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

She sang the songs straight from the heart.

in your heart (of hearts)

if you know, feel, or believe something in your heart, you are secretly sure about it although you may not admit it:

In her heart she knew she would never go.

Deep in his heart, he wanted Laura back.

important part of something

[singular] the most important or central part of a problem, question etc

the heart of something

difficult issues at the heart of science policy

We must get to the heart of the problem.

encouragement

[uncountable] confidence and courage:

This inspiring service gave us new heart.

We mustn't lose heart when people complain.

We've got to take a bit of heart from the fact that we won.

at heart

if you are a particular kind of person at heart, that is the kind of person that you really are even though you may appear or behave differently:

He may be a working class boy at heart, but his lifestyle has been transformed.

Let's face it, we're all romantics at heart.

➔ have somebody's (best) interests at heart

at interest1 (5)

➔ young at heart

at young1 (5)

the centre of an area

[countable] the middle part of an area furthest from the edge

in the heart of something

a house in the heart of London

at the heart of something

an old house at the heart of an ancient forest

close/dear to somebody's heart

very important to someone:

The President liked to go to Williamsburg, a place close to his heart.

Money is dear to Kathleen's heart.

the hearts and minds of somebody

the thoughts, emotions, and attitudes a group of people have about a particular subject, which is a combination of their strong emotional feelings and their calm and sensible thoughts:

The president must try to win the hearts and minds of the voters.