tug at

Meanwhile, Lidl - like John Lewis - has gone for a classic tale designed to tug at the heartstrings.

Its mood is often playful, until there’s a hard tug at the heartstrings.

It’s the memories of those days that tug at me to give back.

In this case I think it’s the mark of recognition, of feeling a tug at your subconscious.

Trump’s victory in the GOP primary ushers in what will almost certainly be an extraordinarily negative general election campaign that will tug at the nation’s already searing political and cultural divides.