heartstrings

«heartstrings» in Mova's school dictionary: Your deepest feelings of love and sympathy — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (plural)

meaning for a pupil

1) Your deepest feelings of love and sympathy. tree →

2) (in the phrase «tug at/pull at someone's heartstrings») To make someone feel very sorry, sad or loving. tree →

sense in the lessons

Almost always used in «tug at the heartstrings» or «pull at the heartstrings»: a sad film, a lost puppy or a charity advert does this. In The Wind in the Willows, when Mole smells his old home, the call of it tugs at his heartstrings until he weeps.

examples

• The film about the lost puppy tugged at our heartstrings. tree →
• Charity adverts often pull at your heartstrings. tree →
• The smell of his old home tugged at Mole's heartstrings. tree →
• The orphan's story pulled at everyone's heartstrings. tree →
• The song about home tugs at my heartstrings every time. tree →
• Her letter touched my heartstrings. tree →

note

Plural noun, one word. Used figuratively; heartstrings are not real parts of the heart. Writers also say «it plucked at his heartstrings».

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «heartstrings» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.