Chapter Heart-breaker to Heaven of H by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Heart-breaker to Heaven

Heart-breaker (A). A flirt. Also a particular kind of curl. Called in French Accroche-cœur. At one time loose ringlets worn over the shoulders were called heart breakers. At another time a curl worn over the temples was called an Accorche-cœur, crève cœur.

Heart-rending Very pathetic. "Qui déchire le cœur; " the heart as the seat of the affections.

Heart-whole Not in love; the affections not given to another.

"I in love? ... I give you my word I am heartwhole," - Sir W. Scott: Redgauntlet (letter 13).

Heart and Soul With my whole heart and soul. With all the energy and enthusiasm of which I am capable. In French, "S'y porter de tout son cœur. " Mark xii. 33 says, "Love [God] with all thy heart [affection], all thy soul [or glow of spiritual life], all thy strength [or physical powers], and all thy understanding [that is, let thy love be also a reasonable service, and not mere enthusiasm]."

Heart in his Boots His heart fell into his hose or sank into his boots. In Latin, "Cor illi in genua decidit. " In French, "Avoir la peur au ventre. " The two last phrases are very expressive: Fear makes the knees shake, and it gives one a stomach-ache; but the English phrase, if it means anything, must mean that it induces the person to run away.

Heart in his Mouth His heart was in his mouth. That choky feeling in the throat which arises from fear, conscious guilt, shyness, etc.

"The young lover tried to look at his ease, ... but his heart was in his mouth," - Miss Thackeray; Mrs. Dymond, p. 156.

Heart of Grace (To take). To pluck up courage; not to be disheartened or down-hearted. This expression is based on the promise, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Cor. xii. 9); by this grace St. Paul says, "When I am weak then am I strong." Take grace into your heart, rely on God's grace for strength, with grace in your heart your feeble knees will be strengthened. (See Hart Of Grease.)

Heart of Hearts (In one's). In one's inmost conviction. The heart is often referred to as a second self. Shakespeare speaks of the "neck of the heart" (Merchant of Venice, ii. 2); "the middle of the heart" (Cymbeline, i. 7). The heart of the heart is to the same effect.

Heart of Midlothian The old jail, the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, taken down in 1817. Sir Walter Scott has a novel so called.

Heart's Ease The viola tricolor. It has a host of fancy names; as, the "Butterfly flower," "Kiss me quick," a "Kiss behind the garden gate," "Love in idleness," "Pansy," "Three faces under one hood," the "Variegated violet," "Herba Trinitatis." The quotation annexed will explain the popular tradition of the flower: -

"Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness ...
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid
Will make a man or woman madly doat
Upon the next live creature that it sees."
Shakespeare: Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 1.

Hearth Money (See Chimney Money .)

Heat One course in a race; activity, action.

"Feigned Zeal, you saw, set out with speedier pace.
But the last heat Plain Dealing won the race."
Dryden.

Heathen A dweller on a heath or common. Christian doctrines would not reach these remote people till long after they had been accepted in towns, and even villages. (Anglo-Saxon, hæthen, hæth. (See Pagan.)

Heaven (Anglo-Saxon, heofon, from heofen, elevated, vaulted.)
   THE THREE HEAVENS. (According to the Jewish system.) The word heaven in the Bible denotes (1) the air, thus we read of "the fowls of heaven," "the dew of heaven," and "the clouds of heaven"; (2) the starry firmament, as, "Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven" (Gen. i. 14); (3) the palace of Jehovah; thus we read that "heaven is My throne" (Isa. lxvi. 1, and Matt. v. 34).
    Loosely, the word is used in Scripture sometimes simply to