NEXT THE HEART, adv. phr. (old).—Fasting.
1592. NASHE, Pierce Penilesse, His Supplication to the Divell [GROSART], ii., 37. You may command his hart out of his belly, to make you a rasher on the coales, if you will NEXT YOUR HEART.
1633. ROWLEY, A Match at Midnight, i. 1. Made drunk NEXT HER HEART.
[Other colloquial usages are AT HEART = in reality, truly, at bottom; FOR ONE’S HEART = for one’s life; IN ONE’S HEART OF HEARTS = in the inmost recesses of oneself; TO BREAK THE HEART OF = (a) to cause great grief, or to kill by grief, and (b) to bring nearly to completion; TO FIND IN ONE’S HEART = to be willing; TO GET or LEARN BY HEART = to commit to memory; TO HAVE AT HEART = to feel strongly about; TO HAVE IN THE HEART = to design or to intend; TO LAY or TAKE TO HEART = to be concerned or anxious about; TO SET THE HEART AT REST = to tranquilize; TO SET THE HEART ON = to be desirous of, to be fond of; TO TAKE HEART OF GRACE = to pluck up courage.]
