heart balm

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From heart +‎ balm.

Noun

heart balm (countable and uncountable, plural heart balms)

  1. (idiomatic) Something that soothes a person's fears or emotions.
    • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 211:
      So many things, however, are a genuine heartbalm like the prickles of the Pleiades rising on the night.
  2. A fine for breach of promise (to marry).

Translations
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