heartstring
noun
Did you know?
Heartstring Has a Medical History
Before a love song could tug at your heartstrings, the job was more likely to be accomplished by a surgeon: the word heartstring used to refer to a nerve believed to sustain the heart. You might recognize the word's second syllable in hamstring, which refers to both a group of tendons at the back of the knee and to any of three muscles at the backs of the upper legs. It's also apparent in a rare dialect term for the Achilles tendon: heel string. And in light of these terms, it's not surprising to know that string itself was at one time used independently to refer to bodily cords like tendons and ligaments.
Examples of heartstring in a Sentence
Andrea Levine O’Rourke, Sun Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
What plucks at the heartstrings with its Herb Alpert studio melancholy sounds a little fried here, the song’s plaintive, tentative charm buried under thrashing improvisation.
—Linnie Greene, Pitchfork, 6 Mar. 2026
As if that weren't enough to tug on the heartstrings, Lopez also shared a lengthy tribute to her kids in the caption.
—Meg Walters, InStyle, 23 Feb. 2026
But this is the kind of last-ditch attempt to pull at her heartstrings, but Yasmin can’t help but be snide and bitchy.
—Chris Murphy, Vanity Fair, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for heartstring
Cite this Entry
“Heartstring.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heartstring. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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heartstring
noun
