Heart Expressions

and Meanings

one has a big heart: said of someone kind and loving; after my own heart: said of someone with similar preferences or values; a heart of gold: a big heart; a heart of stone: said of someone without sympathy; all heart: a big heart; bare (one’s) heart: share one’s feelings or thoughts; bleeding heart: said of someone who is conspicuously or excessively generous; break (one’s) heart: cause someone emotional distress; by heart: from memory; capture/steal/win (one’s) heart: make someone fall in love with one; close/dear/near to (one’s) heart: loved or valued by someone; cross my heart: said as an oath to assert one’s honesty; didn’t have the heart: said when one cannot summon the will to do something hurtful; eat your heart out: said mockingly to someone expressing the desire for them to suffer; usually facetious; faint of heart: lacking courage; find a way into/to (one’s) heart: cause someone to fall in love with one; find it in (one’s) heart: have the compassion or courage to do something; follow (one’s) heart: do what one loves rather than what is expected of one; from the heart: with sincerity; gladden (one’s) heart: make someone happy or gratified; harden (one’s) heart: become callous; have (one’s) heart set on: be obsessed with obtaining; have (one’s) interests at heart: be doing something for someone else’s benefit; heart goes out to: said in regard to feeling sympathy for someone; heart is in the right place: said of someone well intentioned; heart of the matter: essence; heart’s desire: what one wishes deeply for; heart skips a beat: said of someone excited, frightened or surprised; heavy heart: sadness; from the bottom/depths of (one’s) heart: profoundly; in (one’s) heart of hearts: if one’s true feelings or thoughts were known; lose heart: become discouraged; melt (one’s) heart: cause someone to experience uncontrollable emotions; nearly gave (one) a heart attack: caused someone to feel anxiety or fear; (one’s) heart bleeds for: one is sympathetic; (one’s) heart is not in: one does not feel a commitment to or an interest in; out of the goodness/kindness of (one’s) heart: because of generosity or goodwill; put (one’s) heart into: do something with conviction or enthusiasm; sick at heart: discouraged; take heart: be encouraged; take (something) to heart: be affected by something; to (one’s) heart’s content: to the extent one desires; warm (one’s)/the cockles of (one’s) heart: cause someone to feel positive emotion; wear (one’s) heart on (one’s) sleeve: openly show one’s emotions; with a sinking heart: said of someone who becomes discouraged or hopeless; with all (one’s) heart: with great enthusiasm; young at heart: youthful