έδεσε κόμπο την καρδιά του

He felt a knot in his heart.

It's usually used as an emotional idiom. Metaphorically it conveys a sense of physical tightness or discomfort in the chest area and is suggestive of profound emotional distress, anxiety, grief or being romantically or painfully upset about someone or something etc.
 
Just to be clear though, there's a difference between the two phrases. I have to rush off now but I'll come back to it at some point soon.
 
Ακριβώς.

Έδεσε κόμπο ... = κάτι μου προκάλεσε σφίξιμο.

Something has taken a toll on me / is weighing me down / causing me grief.

Κάνω κόμπο ... = εγώ σφίγγομαι / καταπιέζω το συναίσθημά μου.

I am bracing myself / steeling myself in an attempt to cope with something difficult /challenging (emotionally, etc..).
 
I think that "έδεσε/έκανε κόμπο την καρδιά του", on a semantic level pretty much convey the same thing. What I was getting at at #4 was slightly different and I note that in the intervening period between now and my two prior posts, the title has changed from "έδεσε κόμπος την καρδιά του" to "εδεσε κόμπο την καρδιά του".

My response in #2 (and partially in #4) , applies to "έδεσε κόμπος την καρδιά του". It is the grammatical shift from "κόμπος" (nominative case) to "κόμπο" (accusative case) that alters the grammatical structure and meaning of the phrase.

First an example with "κόμπος".
Όταν όμως την αντίκρισε, ένας κόμπος έδεσε την καρδιά του καθώς ήταν κακάσχημη, κοντή και με καμπούρα. Αποφάσισε πως δεν την ήθελε, αλλά η μάνα του με λόγια προσπάθησε να τον πείσει πως αξία περισσότερη από την ομορφιά είχαν τα χρήματα.

"Έδεσε κόμπος την καρδιά του" - literally "a knot tied his heart" - implies that something is happening to the person and is suggestive of an unintentional, spontaneous physical or emotional sensation. He felt a constriction in his chest, an emotional rush, ie. he felt a knot in his heart.

Whereas with "έδεσε/ έκανε κόμπο την καρδιά του" there's a shift in agency and implies an intentional, active effort by the person to steel his emotions ie. he steeled his heart.
 
... το έψαξα, και έχεις δίκιο.
I misread it as ..."στην καρδιά του" ... and had something in mind like ... "η είδηση έδεσε κομπο στην καρδιά τού " ... i.e., an outside factor caused his grief. ... δηλαδή, ένιωσε “κόμπο στην καρδιά” του όταν άκουσε την είδηση.
(You're making me question if it could be used that way now).
 
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