hearts

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of heart.

   Surgeons train for years before operating on human hearts.

   Their hearts raced as the final whistle approached.

   Note

   A regular plural, made with a plain -s. It serves the countable meanings of heart: the organs surgeons operate on, and the courage or feelings each person carries. When heart names one's emotions as a mass, it resists counting, so the plural counts people instead, as in their hearts raced. The same spelling is also the red card suit and the verb "to heart", so context decides which is meant.

2. 2
   nouncountableplural

   One of the four suits in a deck of playing cards, colored red and marked with the ♥ symbol.

   I was dealt five hearts and only one spade.

   The king of hearts is sometimes called the suicide king.

   Note

   Card players always use the suit's name in the plural: the king of hearts, the ace of hearts, a hand short in hearts. It is one of the two red suits in a standard 52-card deck, alongside diamonds. In bridge bidding it ranks above diamonds and clubs but below spades. The suit also gives its name to the trick-taking game, where every heart you take counts against you.

3. 3
   noununcountableplural

   A card game whose players try to avoid winning tricks containing hearts or, especially, the queen of spades, since these cards bring penalties.

   A few rounds of hearts turned the quiet evening into a noisy rivalry.

   He always wins at hearts by dumping the queen of spades on whoever leads.

   Note

   Scoring gives the game its character. Each heart captured costs one point and the queen of spades costs thirteen, so the play becomes a contest of getting rid of dangerous cards. A player who takes every heart and the queen as well shoots the moon, which turns the penalty onto everyone else. The name is written lowercase, and people play hearts or win at hearts, typically four at a table.

4. 4
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of heart.

   My sister hearts the post the moment anyone shares good news.

   The whole office hearts the new logo on the company merchandise.

   Note

   Most often heard now in its playful sense of being fond of something, or of tapping the ❤ on someone's post. Both uses take an object: she hearts the post. The form has quieter lives too. A lettuce or cabbage hearts, with no object, when its leaves close into a dense center, and a builder hearts a wall by filling its core with rubble. An older use, meaning to hearten or encourage, is now obsolete.

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