hole in the heart

British

noun

1. a defect of the heart in which there is an abnormal opening in any of the walls dividing the four heart chambers
2. ( as modifier )
  
  a hole-in-the-heart operation

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Keira Walsh’s knee injury in the Lionesses’ 1-0 win against Denmark on Friday leaves a hole in the heart of the midfield that may be impossible to fill.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 29, 2023

The death of a 15-year-old schoolboy has left his family with a "hole in the heart", an inquest was told.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2022

Their departures leave a hole in the heart of their sport.

From Washington Post • Sep. 15, 2022

“I learned much from him and he inspired me. Pete’s death is going to leave a hole in the heart of New Yorkers.”

From The Guardian • Aug. 5, 2020

They had simply to dig a hole in the heart of a great block of ice; but it was not easy work, owing to the extreme hardness of the material.

From The Field of Ice Part II of the Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Verne, Jules

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023