heart in it, have one's


Also, put one's heart in it. Be emotionally involved in something, undertake something enthusiastically, as in Nancy puts her heart in her teaching. This expression may also be put negatively as one's heart is not in it, as in She decided to quit; her heart just wasn't in this kind of work. [Late 1700s] Also see have no heart for.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.