heart

noun \ ˈhärt \

Updated on: 20 Apr 2018

Definition of heart

1 a : a hollow muscular organ of vertebrate animals that by its rhythmic contraction acts as a force pump maintaining the circulation of the blood

could feel her heart pounding

b : a structure in an invertebrate animal functionally analogous to the vertebrate heart

c : breast, bosom

placed his hand on his heart

d : something resembling a heart in shape; specifically : a stylized representation of a heart

a card decorated with hearts and flowers

2 a : a playing card marked with a stylized figure of a red heart

b hearts plural : the suit comprising cards marked with hearts

the five of hearts

c hearts plural in form but singular or plural in construction : a game in which the object is to avoid taking tricks (see ¹trick 4) containing hearts

3 a : personality, disposition

a cold heart

b obsolete : intellect

4 : the emotional or moral nature as distinguished from the intellectual nature: such as

a : generous disposition : compassion

a leader with heart

b : love, affection

won her heart

c : courage or enthusiasm especially when maintained during a diffiicult situation

never lost heart

5 : one's innermost character, feelings, or inclinations

knew it in his heart

a man after my own heart

6 a : the central or innermost part : center

a cabin in the heart of the forest

b : the essential or most vital part of something

the heart of the city

get to the heart of the matter

c : the younger central compact part of a leafy rosette (such as a head of lettuce or stalk of celery)

— at heart

: in essence : basically, essentially

a romantic at heart

— by heart

: by rote or from memory

knows the poem by heart

— to heart

: with deep concern

took the criticism to heart

See heart defined for English-language learners

See heart defined for kids

Examples of heart in a Sentence

I could feel my heart pounding.
He has a bad heart.
He put his hand on his heart.
When she heard the news, her heart filled with joy.
She just couldn't find it in her heart to forgive them.
I felt in my heart that our relationship was never meant to be.
a ruler without a heart
Have a heart! Can't you see he needs help?

Recent Examples of heart from the Web

The pictures captured the public's heart—and captured Etan's spirit.

— CBS News, "Etan Patz case: 1979 disappearance of NYC boy continues to haunt investigators," 15 Apr. 2018
The Libby investigation, which began nearly six years ago, went to the heart of whether the Bush Administration misled the public in making its case to invade Iraq.

— Time, "George W. Bush Never Pardoned Scooter Libby and It Broke His Relationship With Dick Cheney," 13 Apr. 2018
Zobel shepherded them along on a couple of well-worn trails, but avoided guiding them into the heart of the forest.

— National Geographic, "Ancient Forest Home of Squatter Communities Is Doomed by Coal," 13 Apr. 2018
Even with baseball’s varied and complicated statistics, this accounting gets to the heart of his twisted mind.

— dave hyde, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Hyde: No team is an island — but British Virgin Islands Marlins can be | Commentary," 11 Apr. 2018
The question of whether Britain stays a member of the EU’s customs union goes to the heart of what kind of Brexit May will deliver.

— tim ross, Bloomberg.com, "May's Brexit Red Line on Customs Union Could Be Next to Go," 11 Apr. 2018
McConaughey has led the charge to bring Wild Turkey back to the spotlight as small craft distillers have won the hearts of spirit drinkers in the past few years.

— chris morris, Fortune, "Matthew McConaughey Jumps Into the Bourbon Business," 11 Apr. 2018
Orion Span's offering won't be for everyone, however: Launch and re-entry are not for the faint of heart.

— justin bachman, Anchorage Daily News, "New luxury hotel will cost $792,000 a night – and be 200 miles up," 9 Apr. 2018
Although not as internationally well-known as Miyazaki, Takahata directed some of Studio Ghibli's most beautiful and original films, from the moving Only Yesterday to the heart-wrenching war drama Grave of the Fireflies.

— sam byford, The Verge, "Studio Ghibli anime legend Isao Takahata dies at 82," 6 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heart.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of heart

Origin and Etymology of heart

Middle English hert, from Old English heorte; akin to Old High German herza heart, Latin cord-, cor, Greek kardia

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

heart Synonyms

Other Anatomy Terms

bilateral symmetry, carotid, cartilage, dorsal, entrails, prehensile, renal, solar plexus, supine, thoracic, ventral

heart

verb

Definition of heart

transitive verb

1 informal : ²love

Jane hearts John.

I loathe beer. But I heart beer commercials …
—Rochell D. Thomas

2 archaic : hearten

3 archaic : to fix in the heart

Recent Examples of heart from the Web

Barcelona defender Gerrard Piqué had his own say over the potential guard of honour this weekend by poking fun at Real Madrid with a light-hearted joke.

— SI.com, "Sergio Ramos Claims Ceremonial Guard of Honour Is Overvalued Ahead of El Clasico," 9 Apr. 2018
Little Kevin might have been kind-hearted in his own way.

— candice frederick, Harper's BAZAAR, "This Is Us Season 2 Episode 16 Shows Just How Badly This Show Needs Female Friendship," 28 Feb. 2018
Still, union leaders have taken to heart the lessons of the nine-day West Virginia walkout that concluded in early March.

— michelle hackman, WSJ, "Why Teachers’ Strikes Are Becoming a Nationwide Movement," 1 Apr. 2018
Attempts to rein in Trump's tweeting over the first year of his presidency have been half-hearted at best, administration officials say.

— kevin liptak, CNN, "Trump's 'mini me' could (partly) fill Hicks' void," 30 Mar. 2018
She was kind hearted and would do for others without a second thought.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Joan Marie Landry," 23 Feb. 2018
Even when Trump finally commented on the attack, his critique of Russia was limp and half-hearted.

— trudy rubin, Philly.com, "Trump remains woefully wimpy on Russia. Why? | Trudy Rubin," 16 Mar. 2018
Tender-hearted and fiercely observant, L’Engle had an unusual upbringing that included a move from New York City to the French Alps after the stock market crash of 1929.

— rebekah denn, The Christian Science Monitor, "Madeleine L'Engle bio 'Becoming Madeleine' is aimed at middle readers but is also interesting to adults," 6 Mar. 2018
James Gunn and his team excelled at light-hearted, bratty action-adventure with the first one, but didn't stick any of the big emotional beats in their sequel.

— simon abrams, The Hollywood Reporter, "A Marvel Fan and a Superhero Skeptic Debate 'Black Panther'," 21 Feb. 2018

Origin and Etymology of heart

see ¹heart

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

Heart

geographical name \ ˈhärt \

Definition of Heart

river in southwestern North Dakota flowing 200 miles (320 kilometers) east into the Missouri River opposite Bismarck

HEART Defined for English Language Learners

heart

noun

Definition of heart for English Language Learners

: the organ in your chest that pumps blood through your veins and arteries
: the front part of your chest
: the heart thought of as the place where emotions are felt

HEART Defined for Kids

heart

noun \ ˈhärt \

Definition of heart for Students

1 : a hollow muscular organ of the body that expands and contracts to move blood through the arteries and veins

2 : something shaped like a heart

a Valentine's heart

3 : a part near the center or deep into the interior

They reached the heart of the desert.

4 : the most essential part

That's the heart of the problem.

5 : human feelings

Speak from your heart.

6 : courage or enthusiasm

I don't have the heart to tell them what happened.

— by heart

: so as to be able to repeat from memory

I think I'm going to learn his new phone number by heart.
—Paula Danziger, Amber Brown

Medical Dictionary

heart

noun \ ˈhärt \

medical Definition of heart

1 : a hollow muscular organ of vertebrate animals that by its rhythmic contraction acts as a force pump maintaining the circulation of the blood and that in the human adult is about five inches (13 centimeters) long and three and one half inches (9 centimeters) broad, is of conical form, is placed obliquely in the chest with the broad end upward and to the right and the apex opposite the interval between the cartilages of the fifth and sixth ribs on the left side, is enclosed in a serous pericardium, and consists as in other mammals and in birds of four chambers divided into an upper pair of rather thin-walled atria which receive blood from the veins and a lower pair of thick-walled ventricles into which the blood is forced and which in turn pump it into the arteries

2 : a structure in an invertebrate animal functionally analogous to the vertebrate heart