set one's heart on en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(idiomatic, transitive) To desire with intensity and commitment, to earnestly long for.
[H]e always found it hard to give up anything he had set his heart on, no matter how trivial.
1876, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 5, in Rose in Bloom:Roberts set his heart on a national basketball championship.
1972 April 3, “Religion: Heal Thy Enemy”, in Time:Americans can do whatever they set their hearts on.
2008 January 15, “Mitt Romney’s Michigan Primary Speech”, in New York Times, retrieved 26 May 2013:With all the willful eagerness of a child she set her heart on that visit, and from morning till night she would talk with her little boys of the journey to what seemed to her the brightest, most sacred spot on earth, next to her present home.
1856, T. S. Arthur, “A True Tale of Life”, in The Wedding Guest:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| set one's heart upon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| have one's heart set on | alternative | lexicographic | |
| sets one's heart on | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| setting one's heart on | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| have one's heart set upon | alternative | lexicographic | |
| set one's heart on | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| set one's heart on | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Translations (2)
mi ohia (to long for) · mi manako (to long for)