not have the heart to

not have the heart to idiom
Be unable to bring oneself to say or do something, as in He didn't have the heart to tell her the cat had died. [Mid-1600s] Also see have a heart.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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