From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsoulsoul /səʊl $ soʊl/ ●●○ S3 W3 noun 1 somebody’s spirit [countable]RR the part of a person that is not physical, and that contains their character, thoughts, and feelings. Many people believe that a person’s soul continues to exist after they have died. → spirit the immortality of the soul It was as if those grey eyes could see into the very depths of her soul.in somebody’s soul the restlessness deep in his soul the souls of the dead2 person [countable]PERSON/PEOPLE used in particular phrases to mean a personhappy/sensitive/brave/simple etc soul He is really quite a sensitive soul.not a (living) soul (=no one) I promise I won’t tell a soul.not a soul in sight/not a soul to be seen The night was dark and still, and there was not a soul in sight.poor (old) soul (=used to show pity for someone) The poor old soul had fallen and broken her hip.3 music (also soul music) [uncountable]APM a type of popular music that often expresses deep emotions, usually performed by black singers and musicians He listens to a lot of soul. a soul band4 sense of beauty [uncountable] a) EMOTIONALthe ability to be emotionally affected by art, music, literature etc My brother thinks that anyone who doesn’t like poetry has no soul. b) EMOTIONALthe quality that affects people emotionally, that a painting, piece of music etc can have Her performance was technically perfect, but it lacked soul.5 special quality [uncountable]CHARACTER OF something the special quality or part that gives something its true charactersoul of Basho’s poems capture the true soul of old Japan. 6 → be the soul of discretion7 → be good for the soul8 → God rest his/her soul9 → souls10 → bless my soul/upon my soul → bare your soul at bare2(2), → be the life and soul of the party at life(16), → keep body and soul together at body(11), → heart and soul at heart1(2), → sell your soul (to the devil) at sell1
Examples from the Corpus
soul• In fact, there is not a soul on the streets.• Only a few brave souls ventured outdoors in Monday's storm.• Second-hand soul, funky horns, wandering blues-style vocals, all derivative life is here.• Mabel felt sure that her soul would be saved.• He knew in his soul that Linda was never going to change.• A housewife soul must metamorphose into a full-blown housewife.• A lot of local residents say the downtown area is losing its soul.• Early pub gigs garnered a devoted following, but also a reputation for privileging musicianship over soul.• In an ironically tender twist, the boorish facade turns out to conceal the soul of an artist.• The older documents tell almost nothing about concern for the souls of these Negroes.• How can one cultivate and cherish this rare fruit of the soul?• Anticipated in December and enjoyed in January, February citrus can torture the souls of tree owners.depths of ... soul• Meanwhile, Mark Hollis is happy to take Talk Talk ever further into the depths of his soul.• But the word backside outraged him to the depths of his soul.• An extremely bright young woman who cared about other people to the depths of her soul.• The current advert for the Washburn Mercury guitar revolts me to the very depths of my soul.poor (old) soul• Melody is a poor soul and I feel very sorry for her.• King Robert himself hardly counted, poor soul.• There seemed to be a cop for every fan, and only one poor soul tried to make it happen for himself.• She's just like Sarah, in Liverpool, and that poor soul Betty.• Sure, he wouldn't be killed for anything he had on him, the poor soul.• Indeed it is a testimony to the value of computers that these poor souls still continue the struggle with the machine.• Voters, poor souls, are likely to be confused.• My sister, she was an invalid, died last week, poor soul.Origin soul Old English sawol 