a weight lifts from one's chest
- idiom
- Informal
:
se siente un alivio
- When the doctor said everything was fine, a weight lifted from his chest.
Examples
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Writing the letter made a weight lift from my chest and I finally relaxed.
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When he finally confessed, a weight lifted from his chest.
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After telling her friend the truth, she felt a weight lift from her chest.
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After talking to her friend, a weight lifts from her chest.
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After confessing her secret, she felt a weight lift from her chest.
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When he finally shared his worries, a weight lifted from his chest.
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Telling someone about his struggles made a weight lift from my chest.
Synonyms
37
2.1
A long soft breath you make when you stop feeling worried
Antonyms
How Relieved
- Informal
440
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
a + weight + lift + from + one + chest
The phrase uses literal, familiar senses—'weight' as a burden or pressure, 'lift' as removal or easing, and 'chest' as the bodily site of that pressure—so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer it describes a feeling of relief after a burden is removed. The chest-as-emotion-site and weight-as-burden metaphor is common across languages, making the meaning directly derivable rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
A weight lifts from one's chest shows the simple image of a heavy weight pressing on your chest and then being lifted so you can breathe easily. That's why the phrase means 'relief' or 'feeling less worried'.