Word.ws English Dictionary

having one's heart in one's boots

having one's heart in one's boots is the present participle and gerund of have one's heart in one's boots.

Meaning of have one's heart in one's boots

Verb

have one's heart in one's boots (third-person singular simple present has one's heart in one's boots, present participle having one's heart in one's boots, simple past and past participle had one's heart in one's boots)

  1. (UK, informal) To feel very sad.
  2. (informal) To feel very afraid; to be terrified or in dread.

Questions about having one's heart in one's boots

What is having one's heart in one's boots the present participle and gerund of?
Having one's heart in one's boots is the present participle and gerund of have one's heart in one's boots.

Words near having one's heart in one's boots in the dictionary

  1. having one's handful
  2. having one's hands full
  3. having one's head read
  4. having one's head up one's ass
  5. having one's heart in
  6. having one's heart in one's boots
  7. having one's heart in the right place
  8. having one's heart set on
  9. having one's heart set upon
  10. having one's hump up
  11. having one's mind about one

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: having one's heart in one's boots (page history and authors); have one's heart in one's boots (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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