Link Centre Dictionary

heartstrings

heartst·rings

UK/ˈhɑːtstɹɪŋz/ US/ˈhɑɹtˌstɹɪŋz/ rare archaic

noun

1.

your deepest feelings of love and compassion

  • “many adoption cases tug at the heartstrings”

Origin

PIE word *ḱḗr From Late Middle English hartestrynges, hert strynges, from Middle English herte (“heart”) + strenges, strynges (“cords, strings”). The English word is analysable as heart + strings.

Phrases

  • play on someone's heartstrings
  • pull at someone's heartstrings
  • tug at someone's heartstrings

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.