pour one's heart out

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

pour one's heart out (third-person singular simple present pours one's heart out, present participle pouring one's heart out, simple past and past participle poured one's heart out)

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To express one's innermost thoughts or feelings.
   • 1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Henry Esmond, Esq., ch. 29:

     He poured his heart out to them, so as he never could in any other company, where he hath generally passed for being moody, or supercilious and silent.

   • 1860, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, ch. 7:

     [S]he would be all the better for pouring her heart out freely, and would be glad to do it, if she were sure of sympathy

   • 1994, Rolling Stones, Out of Tears:

     And I just can't pour my heart out, to another living thing, I'm a whisper, I'm a shadow, but I'm standing up to sing.

   • 2009 July 2, "Our Favorite Songs: General Colin Powell," Time:

     The spirited lyrics, the dancing and the joy of watching these five handsome, clean-cut youngsters pouring their hearts out moved me then and moves me now.

Translations

To express one's innermost thoughts or feelings

• Finnish: vuodattaa sydäntään, avautua (fi)
• French: s'épancher (fr)
• German: sein Herz ausschütten

• Italian: aprire il proprio cuore, mettere a nudo il proprio animo
• Russian: излить душу (ru) (izlitʹ dušu) (pour one's soul out)
• Spanish: desahogarse (es)

See also

• bare one's soul

Anagrams

• pour out one's heart