heart and soul


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

heart

 (härt)
n.
1. Anatomy
a. The chambered muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood received from the veins into the arteries, thereby maintaining the flow of blood through the entire circulatory system.
b. A similarly functioning structure in invertebrates.
2. The area that is the approximate location of the heart in the body; the breast.
3.
a. The vital center and source of one's being, emotions, and sensibilities.
b. The repository of one's deepest and sincerest feelings and beliefs: an appeal from the heart; a subject dear to her heart.
c. The seat of the intellect or imagination: the worst atrocities the human heart could devise.
4.
a. Emotional constitution, basic disposition, or character: a man after my own heart.
b. One's prevailing mood or current inclination: We were light of heart.
5.
a. Capacity for sympathy or generosity; compassion: a leader who seems to have no heart.
b. Love; affection: The child won my heart.
6.
a. Courage; resolution; fortitude: The soldiers lost heart and retreated.
b. The firmness of will or the callousness required to carry out an unpleasant task or responsibility: hadn't the heart to send them away without food.
7. A person esteemed or admired as lovable, loyal, or courageous: a dear heart.
8.
a. The central or innermost physical part of a place or region: the heart of the financial district.
b. The core of a plant, fruit, or vegetable, such as a heart of palm.
9. The most important or essential part: get to the heart of the matter.
10. A conventional two-lobed representation of the heart, usually colored red or pink.
11. Games
a. A red, heart-shaped figure on certain playing cards.
b. A playing card with this figure.
c. hearts(used with a sing. or pl. verb) The suit of cards represented by this figure.
d. A card game in which the object is either to avoid hearts when taking tricks or to take all the hearts.
tr.v. heart·ed, heart·ing, hearts
1. Slang To have great liking or affection for: I heart chocolate chip cookies!
2. Archaic To encourage; hearten.
Idioms:
at heart
In one's deepest feelings; fundamentally.
by heart
Learned by rote; memorized word for word.
do (one's) heart good
To lift one's spirits; make one happy.
from the bottom/depths of (one's) heart
With the deepest appreciation; most sincerely.
have (one's) heart in (one's) mouth
To be extremely frightened or anxious.
have (one's) heart in the right place
To be well-intentioned.
heart and soul
Completely; entirely.
in (one's) heart of hearts
In the seat of one's truest feelings.
lose (one's) heart to
To fall in love with.
near/close to (one's) heart
Loved by or important to one.
steal (someone's) heart
To win one's affection or love.
take to heart
To take seriously and be affected or troubled by: Don't take my criticism to heart.
to (one's) heart's content
To one's entire satisfaction, without limitation.
wear (one's) heart on (one's) sleeve
To show one's feelings clearly and openly by one's behavior.
with all (one's) heart
1. With great willingness or pleasure.
2. With the deepest feeling or devotion.
with half a heart
In a halfhearted manner.

[Middle English hert, from Old English heorte; see kerd- in Indo-European roots. V., sense 1, from the use of a heart shape to represent the verb love, originally between the letters I and NY in merchandise meant to be read I love New York.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.heart and soul - the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
cognitive content, mental object, content - the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned
bare bones - (plural) the most basic facts or elements; "he told us only the bare bones of the story"
hypostasis - (metaphysics) essential nature or underlying reality
haecceity, quiddity - the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other
quintessence - the purest and most concentrated essence of something
stuff - a critically important or characteristic component; "suspense is the very stuff of narrative"
Adv.1.heart and soul - with complete faith; "she was with him heart and soul"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
بِكُل طاقَتِه واهتِمامِه
tělem i duší
hjerte og sjæl
af lífi og sál
telom a dušou
bütün dikkatiyle

heart

(haːt) noun
1. the organ which pumps blood through the body. How fast does a person's heart beat?; (also adjective) heart disease; a heart specialist.
2. the central part. I live in the heart of the city; in the heart of the forest; the heart of a lettuce; Let's get straight to the heart of the matter/problem.
3. the part of the body where one's feelings, especially of love, conscience etc are imagined to arise. She has a kind heart; You know in your heart that you ought to go; She has no heart (= She is not kind).
4. courage and enthusiasm. The soldiers were beginning to lose heart.
5. a symbol supposed to represent the shape of the heart; a white dress with little pink hearts on it; heart-shaped.
6. one of the playing-cards of the suit hearts, which have red symbols of this shape on them.
-hearted
kind-hearted; hard-hearted; broken-hearted.
ˈhearten verb
to encourage or cheer up. We were greatly heartened by the good news.
ˈheartless adjective
cruel; very unkind. a heartless remark.
ˈheartlessly adverb
ˈheartlessness noun
hearts noun plural
(sometimes treated as noun singular) one of the four card suits. the two of hearts.
ˈhearty adjective
1. very friendly. a hearty welcome.
2. enthusiastic. a hearty cheer.
3. very cheerful; too cheerful. a hearty person/laugh.
4. (of meals) large. He ate a hearty breakfast.
5. (of a person's appetite) large.
ˈheartily adverb
ˈheartiness noun
ˈheartache noun
(a feeling of) great sadness.
heart attack
a sudden failure of the heart to function correctly, sometimes causing death. My father has had a slight heart attack.
ˈheartbeat noun
(the sound of) the regular movement of the heart.
ˈheartbreak noun
(something which causes) great sorrow. I have suffered many heartbreaks in my life.
ˈheartbroken adjective
feeling very great sorrow. a heartbroken widow.
ˈheartburn noun
a burning feeling in the chest caused by indigestion. She suffers from heartburn after meals.
heart failure
the sudden stopping of the heart's beating. the old man died of heart failure.
ˈheartfelt adjective
sincere. heartfelt thanks.
ˌheart-to-ˈheart adjective
open and sincere, usually in private. I'm going to have a heart-to-heart talk with him.
noun
an open and sincere talk, usually in private. After our heart-to-heart I felt more cheerful.
ˈheart-warming adjective
causing a person to feel pleasure. It was heart-warming to see the happiness of the children.
at heart
really; basically. He seems rather stern but he is at heart a very kind man.
break someone's heart
to cause someone great sorrow. If you leave her, it'll break her heart.
by heart
from memory; by memorizing. The children know their multiplication tables by heart; Actors must learn their speeches (off) by heart.
from the bottom of one's heart
very sincerely. She thanked him from the bottom of her heart.
have a change of heart
to change a decision etc, usually to a better, kinder one. He's had a change of heart – he's going to help us after all.
have a heart!
show some pity!.
have at heart
to have a concern for or interest in. He has the interest of his workers at heart.
heart and soul
with all one's attention and energy. She devoted herself heart and soul to caring for her husband.
lose heart
to become discouraged.
not have the heart to
not to want or be unkind enough to (do something unpleasant). I don't have the heart to tell him that everyone laughed at his suggestions.
set one's heart on / have one's heart set on
to want very much. He had set his heart on winning the prize; He had his heart set on winning.
take heart
to become encouraged or more confident.
take to heart
1. to be made very sad or upset by. You mustn't take his unkind remarks to heart.
2. to pay attention to. He's taken my criticism to heart – his work has improved.
to one's heart's content
as much as one wants. She could play in the big garden to her heart's content.
with all one's heart
very willingly or sincerely. I hope with all my heart that you will be happy.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in periodicals archive ?
You can purchase tickets and find our more about the families they support at www.heartandsoulfd.org or Facebook Heart and Soul Fund.
The song became the song of our heart and soul, praying for a world of love and harmony in the midst of the social storms and turmoil.
The The HEART and soul 60p WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2015 CUTE Hundreds more were waiting at St Bede's Chapel in Acklam.
Andrew, a big Northern Soul and scooter fan, raises a lot of the money from his 'Heart and Soul' nights, with the events attracting around 200 people.
The Heart and Soul evening is PS6 entry, and tickets to win the scooter and other prizes are PS5 each.
He did so until his heart was soothed, then flew back into the sky, promising humans and animals that he would always return as long as we love one another and understand that everyone, human and animal, is a heart and soul in one unity.
New Delhi-based Sumitra Guha will sing at Heart and Soul tonight and tomorrow evening.
The face of the label Louise Kavanagh will have her big moment on Sunday night when she represents Heart And Soul in the Miss Universe Ireland competition at CityWest Hotel.
For this is the cause why we are not at ease in heart and soul, for we seek rest here, in things that are so little where there is no rest, and knowing not our God who is all mighty, all wise, and all good, who is true rest.