Question

You have read the expression ‘not to lose heart’ in this text. Now find out the meanings of the following expressions using the word ‘heart’. Use each of them in a sentence of your own.

1. break somebody’s heart
2. close/dear to heart
3. from the (bottom of your) heart
4. have a heart
5. have a heart of stone
6. your heart goes out to somebody

Answer 1

1. break somebody’s heart − to upset somebody deeply
   It has unfortunately become very easy these days to break somebody’s heart.
2. close/dear to heart − something or someone who is near and close to you
   The drawing given to me by my little daughter is very close to my heart.
3. from the (bottom of your) heart − genuinely meaning or feeling something
   He loved his son from the bottom of his heart.
4. have a heart − to evoke the feeling to help someone in distress
   The poor beggar asked the rich man to have a heart and give him something to eat.
5. have a heart of stone − to not feel anything or any sentiment
   The cruel landlady has a heart of stone as she beats up her children.
6. your heart goes out to somebody − to sympathise with someone else and understand his feelings and distress
   My heart goes out to the little girl who lost both her parents in a car accident.