heartstrings

[ hahrt-stringz ]

plural noun

the deepest feelings; the strongest affections: to tug at one's heartstrings.

Origin of heartstrings

First recorded in 1475–85; heart + strings

Words Nearby heartstrings

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use heartstrings in a sentence

Say what you will, though, he never tried to tug at our heartstrings by making Marlowe an orphan.
Can Pulp Win the Booker? | Allen Barra | September 7, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
Sometimes I see tabloid stuff online and it tugs at my heartstrings.
Sandra Bullock's Ex Jesse James Opens Up | Marlow Stern | May 5, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
She saw that her duty was before her; she must nerve herself and face it, though it tore her heartstrings.
Love's Pilgrimage | Upton Sinclair
Three or four horrible suggestions arose in succession to jerk at her heartstrings.
Overland | John William De Forest
The thoughts of this orphan boy clung to her heartstrings with a fondness for which she herself was unable to account.
The Abbot | Sir Walter Scott

The appeal which touched the heartstrings of all persons served a double purpose.
Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War, Volume XII | Various
It meant the tearing out of his very heartstrings which had found root at a woman's feet.
"Unto Caesar" | Baroness Emmuska Orczy

British Dictionary definitions for heartstrings

heartstrings

/ (ˈhɑːtˌstrɪŋz) /

pl n

often facetious deep emotions or feelings

Origin of heartstrings

C15: originally referring to the tendons supposed to support the heart

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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