[hear] See: WILL NOT HEAR OF.

[hear a pin drop]{v. phr.} Absolute silence. •/It’s so quiet in theroom you could hear a pin drop./

[heart] See: AFTER ONE’S OWN HEART, AT HEART, EAT ONE’S HEART OUT, BREAKONE’S HEART, BY HEART, CHANGE OF HEART, CROSS ONE’S HEART, DO ONE GOOD or DOONE’S HEART GOOD, FIND IT IN ONE’S HEART, FROM THE BOTTOM OF ONE’S HEART orWITH ALL ONE’S HEART, FROM THE HEART, GET TO THE HEART OF, HAVE A HEART, HEAVYHEART, LOSE HEART, LOSE ONE’S HEART, OPEN HEART, OPEN ONE’S HEART, SEARCH ONE’SHEART, SET ONE’S HEART ON, TAKE HEART, TAKE TO HEART, TO ONE’S HEART’S CONTENT,WEAR ONE’S HEART ON ONE’S SLEEVE.

[heartbreaker]{n.} One with numerous admirers of the opposite sex; onewith whom others fall in love readily. •/Tom, who has four girls in love withhim at college, has developed the reputation of being a heartbreaker./

[heart and soul(1)]{n.} Eager love; strong feeling; great enthusiasm.Often used with a singular verb. •/When Mr. Pitt plays the piano, his heartand soul is in it./ •/John plays tennis badly, but with heart and soul./•/Mary wanted a puppy with all her heart and soul./

[heart and soul(2)]{adv.} Wholly and eagerly; with all one’s interestand strength; completely. •/Will you try to make our city a better place?Then we are with you heart and soul./ •/Mike was heart and soul against thenew rules./ Compare: BODY AND SOUL.

[heart goes out to]{formal} You feel very sorry for; you feel pity orsympathy for. — Used with a possessive. •/Frank’s heart went out to the poorchildren playing in the slum street./ •/Our hearts went out to the youngmother whose child had died./

[hear the beat] or [see the beat] {v. phr.}, {dialect} To hearof or to see someone or something better or surpassing. — Usually used innegative or interrogative sentences and often followed by "of". •/I neverheard the beat! John swam all the way across the river. Did you ever hear thebeat of it?/ •/The juggler spun a table around on the tip of his finger. Inever saw the beat of that./

[heart in one’s mouth] or [heart in one’s boots] A feeling of greatfear or nervousness. — Often considered trite. •/Charles got up to make hisfirst speech with his heart in his mouth./ •/My heart was in my mouth as Iwent into the haunted house./ •/When the bear came out of the woods towardsus, our hearts were in our mouths./ Compare: HAIR STAND ON END.

[heart is in the right place] or [have one’s heart in the right place]To be kind-hearted, sympathetic or well-meaning; have good intentions. •/Allthe tramps and stray dogs in the neighborhood knew that Mrs. Brown’s heart wasin the right place./ •/Tom looks very rough but his heart is in the rightplace./

[heart miss a beat] See: HEART SKIP A BEAT.

[heart of gold]{n. phr.} A kind, generous, or forgiving nature.•/John has a heart of gold. I never saw him angry at anyone./ •/Mrs.Brown is a rich woman with a heart of gold./ Compare: GOOD AS GOLD, HEART INTHE RIGHT PLACE.

[heart of stone]{n. phr.} A. nature without pity. •/Mr. Smith has aheart of stone. He whipped his horse until it fell down./

[heart-searching] See: SEARCH ONE’S HEART.

[heart set] See: SET ONE’S HEART ON.

[heart sink] To lose hope, courage, or eagerness; be very disappointed.•/The soldiers' hearts sank when they saw that they were surrounded byIndians./ •/The children were happy because they were going to the beach toswim, but their hearts sank when it began to rain./

[heart skip a beat] or [heart miss a beat] 1. The heart leaves out orseems to leave out a beat; the heart beats hard or leaps from excitement orstrong feeling. — Often considered trite. •/When Paul saw the bear standingin front of him, his heart skipped a beat./ 2. To be startled or excited fromsurprise, joy. or fright. •/When Linda was told that she had won, her heartmissed a beat./

[heart stand still]{v. phr.} To be very frightened or worried.•/Johnny’s heart stood still when he saw his dog run into the street in frontof a car./ •/Everybody’s heart stood still when the President announcedthat war was declared./ Compare: HAIR STAND ON END.

[heart-to-heart]{adj.} Speaking freely and seriously about somethingprivate. •/The father decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with his sonabout smoking./ •/She waited until they were alone so she could have aheart-to-heart talk with him./ Compare: MAN-TO-MAN.

[hearty] See: HALE AND HEARTY.

[heat] See: CANNED HEAT.

[heave in sight]{v. phr.} To seem to rise above the horizon at sea andcome into sight; come into view; become visible. — Usually used of ships.•/A ship hove in sight many miles away on the horizon./

[heaven] See: MOVE HEAVEN AND EARTH, WOULD THAT or WOULD HEAVEN.

[heaven knows] or [heaven only knows] See: GOD KNOWS.

[heavenly days!]{interj.}, {informal} Exclamation of amazement anddisbelief with negative coloring. •/Heavenly days! Look what happened! Thedog did it again on the Persian carpet!/ Compare: GOOD GRIEF!

[heave to]{v.} To bring a ship to a stop; bring a sailing ship to astandstill by setting the sails in a certain way. •/"Heave to!" the captainshouted to his crew./ •/We fired a warning shot across the front of thepirate ship to make her heave to./

[heave up] See: THROW UP.

[heavy] See: HANG HEAVY or HANG HEAVY ON ONE’S HANDS, HOT AND HEAVY.

[heavy-duty]{adj.} Made for long or hard use; very strong. •/Thelumberman used heavy-duty trucks for hauling logs down the mountains./•/The workers in the steel mill have heavy-duty gloves for handling hotsteel./ •/Mrs. Carlson bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean her greasyoven./

[heavy-footed]{adj.} 1. Slow and clumsy in walking or movement;awkward in using your feet. •/The fat man tried to dance, but he was tooheavy-footed./ •/Martha is not fat, but she is heavy-footed and walksnoisily./ 2. Awkward in choice and order of words; not smooth and graceful;clumsy. •/In Mary’s compositions, the words seem to dance, but John’scompositions are always heavy-footed./ 3. or [lead-footed] {informal}Likely to drive an automobile fast. •/Jerry is a bad driver because he is tooheavy-footed./ Compare: STEP ON IT.

[heavy-handed]{adj.} 1. Not skillful or graceful; clumsy. •/Georgeis heavy-handed and seldom catches the ball./ •/My sister plays the pianobadly; she is too heavy-handed./ •/Tim told a heavy-handed joke about theprincipal’s baldness that embarrassed everyone./ 2. Likely to hit or punishhard; harsh or cruel in making (someone) obey. •/Years ago many fathers wereheavy-handed bosses in their homes./ •/Many American colonists believedthat the English tax collectors were too heavy-handed./ 3. See: HAM-HANDED.

[heavy heart]{n. phr.} A feeling of being weighed down with sorrow;unhappiness. •/They had very heavy hearts as they went to the funeral./

[heck] See: RAISE THE DEVIL or RAISE HECK or RAISE HOB or RAISE NED.

[heck of it] See: DEVIL OF IT.

[hedge about] or [hedge in] 1. To surround with a hedge or barrier;protect or separate by closing in. •/The house is hedged about with hushesand trees./ •/The little garden is hedged in to keep the chickens out./2. To keep from getting out or moving freely; keep from acting freely; blockin. •/The boys are hedged in today. They can only play in the backyard./•/The king said he could not make new laws if he was so hedged in by oldones./ Syn.: FENCE IN.