hearth

/hɑːθ/ (bre, ipa) · /hɑːrθ/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈhärth/ (ame, mw)

hearth — noun

  • hearthsingular
  • hearthsplural

1. the flat stone, brick, or tile surface at the base of a fireplace and the matchi

1.名詞C2
釋義

the flat stone, brick, or tile surface at the base of a fireplace and the matching strip of floor that sticks out into the room.

例句

Defne swept ash from the hearth before laying fresh logs on the fire.

sweep + hearth (typical chore collocation)

A black cat lay curled on the warm hearth, ignoring everyone in the room.

on the hearth (location prepositional pattern)

同義詞
  • fireside

    fireside is the area beside the fire as a sitting space; hearth is the actual surface.

  • fireplace

    fireplace is the whole opening in the wall plus chimney; hearth is only the floor surface.

用法筆記

Names the physical surface in front of and below the fire opening — not the wall opening (fireplace) and not the chimney. Often paired with cleaning verbs (sweep, polish) and with location prepositions (on, beside, above).

常見錯誤

❌She put more wood inside the hearth.
✅She put more wood inside the fireplace.
💡the hearth is the floor surface; the wood goes in the fireplace opening, not on the hearth.

2. your own home, pictured as a warm and loving place where family gathers — used i

2.名詞C2
釋義

your own home, pictured as a warm and loving place where family gathers — used in older books, speeches, or poetic writing rather than everyday talk.

例句

After ten years at sea, Liang longed to return to his own hearth in the small fishing village.

return to one's hearth (literary movement collocation)

The soldiers fought to defend their hearths and the country that gave them life.

defend the hearth (literary protection collocation)

同義詞
  • home

    home is the everyday word; hearth is the literary or sentimental version.

  • household

    household focuses on the people living together; hearth focuses on the warmth and emotional centre.

文法句型

hearth and home (fixed phrase)

用法筆記

Almost always literary or rhetorical — appears in poems, old novels, political speeches, and idealised descriptions of family life. Distinguish from sense 1: here 'return to my hearth' means going home, not standing on the fireplace tiles. Often in the fixed phrase 'hearth and home'.

常見錯誤

❌I bought a new hearth in Taipei last year.
✅I bought a new home in Taipei last year.
💡the figurative sense is poetic, not for everyday property talk.