warm the cockles of someone's heart
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: wôrm thə kŏk′əlz əv sŭm′wənz härt′
ipa: /wɔːm ðə ˈkɒk.əlz əv ˌsʌm.wənz ˈhɑːt/
ipa: /woɹm ðə ˈkɑk.əlz əv ˌsʌm.wənz ˈhɑɹt/
note: without the cot–caught merger
ipa: /woɹm ðə ˈkɔk.əlz əv ˌsʌm.wənz ˈhɑɹt/
note: without the cot–caught merger
ipa: /woɹm ðə ˈkɒk.əlz əv ˌsʌm.wənz ˈhɑɹt/
ipa: /woːm ðə ˈkɔk.əlz əv ˌsɐm.wənz ˈhɐːt/
ipa: /woːm ðə ˈkɒk.əlz əv ˌsɐm.wənz ˈhɐːt/
ipa: /wɔɹm ðə ˈkɔk.əlz əv ˌsʌm.wənz ˈhaɹt/
ipa: /wɔʳm d̪e ˈkɔk.elz ov ˌsəm.wonz ˈhaːʳt/
Forms: form: warms the cockles of someone's heart
form: warming the cockles of someone's heart
form: warmed the cockles of someone's heart
form: warmed the cockles of someone's heart
Etymology: PIE word
 *ḱḗr
Either from:
* the similarity of a closed cockle (“European bivalve mollusk of the family Cardiidae”) to a heart; or
* a corruption of Latin cochleae (“ventricles”) in cochleae cordis (“ventricles of the heart”).
The term cockles of [someone’s] heart is first attested in 1671: see the quotation.
Senses: examples: text: Here a fresh-looking barmaid serves them each with a glass of early purl as they stand before the fire, coachman and guard exchanging business remarks. The purl warms the cockles of Tom's heart and makes him cough.
ref: 1857, [Thomas Hughes], “The Stage Coach”, in Tom Brown’s School Days. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 85:
text: Well, Aby; here I am, as large as life, but as cold as death. Ugh; what an affair that coach is! Fanny, my best of darlings, give me a drop of something that's best for warming the cockles of an old man's heart.
ref: 1859 August 4 – 1860 March 31 (date written), Anthony Trollope, “The Kanturk Hotel, South Main Street, Cork”, in Castle Richmond. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 10 May 1860, →OCLC, page 103:
text: My sandwiches had gone the way of all good sandwiches, and no wine remained to warm the cockles of my heart, for my flask had long been emptied.
ref: 1871, May Fly [pseudonym; H. F. Manley], A Continental Tour, together with Notes and Anecdotes of Diplomatic Life, London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; Wellington, Somerset: Richard Corner, →OCLC, page 81:
glosses: Especially of food or drink (particularly an alcoholic beverage): to cause someone to feel deeply warm and comfortable; to comfort, to satisfy.
examples: text: Novv, although he ſays in his Preface, that he vvould not much boaſt of convincing the vvorld, hovv much I vvas miſtaken in vvhat I undertook; yet, I am confident of it, that this Contrivance of his did invvardly as much rejoyce the Cockles of his heart, as he phanſies, that vvhat I vvrit did ſometimes much tickle my Spleen.
ref: [1671, [John Eachard], Some Observations upon the Answer to an Enquiry into the Grounds & Occasions of the Contemt of the Clergy: […], 4th edition, London: […] E[van] Tyler and R[alph] Holt, for N[athaniel] Brooke, […], published 1672, →OCLC, pages 26–27:
text: "You mean that great possessions warm the cockles of your heart," I said; "that's because you're all soul. As for me, I must warm my hands in the tea-cozy before I can carve the eggs."
ref: 1902 October, E[dith] Nesbit, “The Invaders”, in The Red House, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 210:
text: "Well, they may laugh at us up here for our old-fashioned notions of loyalty, discipline and obedience, but when one finds it I must say it warms the cockles of the heart. Don't you agree with me, Hugh? I say it warms the cockles of the heart." / "Oh, very much so," Kilwhillie agreed. The cockles of his own heart were in a responsive condition to warmth that evening […]
ref: 1941, Compton Mackenzie, “The Cave of the Calf”, in The Monarch of the Glen (Guild Books; number C5), Stockholm, Sweden: [F]or the British Publishers Guild by AB Ljus Förlag, published 1945, →OCLC, page 125:
text: "Surname?" / "Blagodarev." / A handy name, easy to get hold of, and the ready way he gave it warmed the cockles of the heart.
ref: 1989, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, chapter 25, in H[arry] T[aylor] Willetts, transl., August 1914 (The Red Wheel: A Narrative in Discrete Periods of Time), 1st paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, published 2014, →ISBN, page 214:
synonyms: word: warm someone's cockles
word: warm someone's heart
word: beatify
word: begladden
word: blissen
word: bright
word: cheer
word: cheer up
word: content
word: delight
word: elate
word: enbliss
word: exhilarate
word: fain
word: gay
word: gladden
word: gladden someone's heart
word: gratify
word: happify
word: happy
word: hearten
word: jollify
word: laetificate
word: light up
word: make someone's day
word: perk up
word: please
word: raise someone's spirits
word: rejoice
word: turn the frown upside down
word: upcheer
word: warm someone's heart
word: warm the cockles of someone's heart
glosses: To provide someone with a deep feeling of contentment or happiness.
Related terms: heart-warming
warm-hearted