heart-blood
/ˈhɑːtblʌd/noun
1Blood from the heart; blood shed in death; vital blood. More generally: blood.
2 Figurative. Something that gives energy or vitality to a place, institution, enterprise, etc.; a driving force.
Origin
Middle English; earliest use found in Ancrene Riwle. From heart + blood. Probably originally reflecting a genitive compound with unmarked first element.
- private finance initiative
- private first class
- private function
- private highway
- private hospital
- private hotel
- private house
- private income
- private inquiry
- private international law
- private investigator
- private joke
- private judgement
- private label
- private language
- private law
- private life
- privately
- private man
- private man of war
- private mass
- private means
- private member
- private member's bill
- private motoring