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plural only
(obsolete, anatomy) The tendons once thought to brace the heart. quotations
The midriff and heart-strings do burn and beat very fearfully, and when this vapour or fume is stirred, flieth upward, the heart itself beats […].
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps
(figurative) One's deepest emotions or inner feelings. examples
(anatomy) The cord-like tendons that connect the papillary muscles to the tricuspid valve and the mitral valve in the heart. quotations examples
These are the so-called heartstrings or chordae tendineae.
2002, Beryl Stretch, BTEC National Health Studies
As a result, one or more of his chordae tendineae, or heartstrings, ruptured.
2014, Crissy Shreve, BMom