heartstrings

Everyday

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 →

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».