warm the cockles of (one's) heart

(redirected from it warms the cockles of their hearts)

warm the cockles of (one's) heart

To cause one to feel happy. The "cockles of one's heart" are the deepest part of oneself. Thank you so much—your kind words really warmed the cockles of my heart.

See also: cockle, heart, of, warm

warm the cockles of someone's heart

Fig. to make someone feel warm and happy. It warms the cockles of my heart to hear you say that. Hearing that old song again warmed the cockles of her heart.

See also: cockle, heart, of, warm

warm the cockles of one's heart

Gratify one, make one feel good, as in It warms the cockles of my heart to see them getting along so well. This expression uses a corruption of the Latin name for the heart's ventricles, cochleae cordis. [Second half of 1600s]

See also: cockle, heart, of, warm

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

warm the cockles of your heart

BRITISH, OLD-FASHIONED

If something warms the cockles of your heart, it makes you feel happy and contented. With its positive message and charming characters, this is a film to warm the cockles of your heart. In the dull grey setting, the sunny yellow colour of the house warmed the cockles of my heart. Note: Cockles are a type of shellfish. They are associated with the heart because they have a similar shape. The zoological name for cockles is `Cardium', which comes from the Greek word for `heart'.

See also: cockle, heart, of, warm

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

warm the cockles of someone's heart

give someone a comforting feeling of pleasure or contentment.

This phrase perhaps arose as a result of the resemblance in shape between a heart and a cockleshell.

See also: cockle, heart, of, warm

warm the ˈcockles (of somebody’s ˈheart)

(British English) make somebody feel happy or sympathetic: Ah! It warms the cockles of my heart to see the children so happy.

warm the cockles of one's heart, to

To gratify; to make someone feel good. This term comes from the Latin for the heart’s ventricles, cochleas cordis, and has been used figuratively since the late seventeenth century. “This contrivance of his did inwardly rejoice the cockles of his heart,” wrote John Eachard (Observations upon the Answer to Contempt of Clergy, 1671).