pull at someone's heartstrings

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English

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Verb

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pull at someone's heartstrings (third-person singular simple present pulls at someone's heartstrings, present participle pulling at someone's heartstrings, simple past and past participle pulled at someone's heartstrings)

  1. Synonym of play on someone's heartstrings
    • 2023 December 17, Olivia Empson, quoting Dr Geri-Lynn Utter, “‘Tranq tourism’: alarm in Philadelphia as TikTokers travel to film drug users”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
      “These videos don’t pull at the heartstrings; they make these people look like animals in a zoo instead of individuals that need help,” said Dr Geri-Lynn Utter, a clinical psychologist specializing in addiction.