set one's heart on

English

Alternative forms

• have one's heart set on/have one's heart set upon
• set one's heart upon

Pronunciation

• Audio(General Australian):

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Verb

setone'shearton(third-person singular simple presentsets one's heart on,present participlesetting one's heart on,simple past and past participleset one's heart on)

1. (transitive,idiomatic)Todesirewithintensityandcommitment,to earnestly long for.
   • 1856,T. S. Arthur,“A True Tale of Life”, inThe Wedding Guest:

     With all the willful eagerness of a child sheset her heart onthat visit, and from morning till night she would talk with her little boys of the journey to what seemed to her the brightest, most sacred spot on earth, next to her present home.

   • 1876,Louisa May Alcott,chapter 5, inRose in Bloom:

     [H]e always found it hard to give up anything he hadset his heart on,no matter how trivial.

   • 1972April 3, “Religion: Heal Thy Enemy”,inTime:

     Robertsset his heart ona national basketball championship.

   • 2008January 15, “Mitt Romney’s Michigan Primary Speech”,inNew York Times,retrieved26 May 2013:

     Americans can do whatever theyset their hearts on.

Translations

to long for

• Maori:manako,ohia