ear
[noun]
Synonyms: sensitivity, appreciation, discrimination, taste

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

ear S2 W2 /ɪə $ ɪr/ noun
[Sense 1,2: Language: Old English; Origin: eare]
[Sense 3: Language: Old English; Origin: ear]

1. PART OF YOUR BODY [countable] one of the organs on either side of your head that you hear with:
She tucked her hair behind her ears.
long-eared/short-eared etc
a long-eared rabbit

2. GRAIN [countable] the top part of a plant such as wheat that produces grain
ear of
an ear of corn

3. smile/grin etc from ear to ear to show that you are very happy or pleased by smiling a lot:
She came out of his office, beaming from ear to ear.

4. reach somebody's ears if something reaches someone's ears, they hear about it or find out about it:
The news eventually reached the ears of the king.

5. to somebody's ears used when saying how something sounds to someone:
It sounds odd to the ears of an ordinary English speaker.

6. [singular] the ability to learn music, copy sounds etc
ear for
She has no ear for languages at all.
a good ear for dialogue

7. a sympathetic ear used to say that someone listens sympathetically to what someone is saying:
He’s always prepared to lend a sympathetic ear.

8. close/shut your ears to something to refuse to listen to bad or unpleasant news:
You can’t just close your ears to their warnings. ⇒ turn a deaf ear at deaf(4), ⇒ fall on deaf ears at deaf(5)

9. be all ears informal to be very keen to hear what someone is going to tell you:
As soon as I mentioned money, Karen was all ears.

10. be out on your ear informal to be forced to leave a job, organization etc, especially because you have done something wrong:
You’d better start working harder, or you’ll be out on your ear.

11. be up to your ears in work/debt/problems etc to have a lot of work etc

12. have something coming out (of) your ears informal to have too much of something:
We’ve got pumpkins coming out our ears this time of year.

13. keep your/an ear to the ground to make sure that you always know what is happening in a situation

14. keep your ears open to always be listening in order to find out what is happening or to hear some useful information:
I hope you’ll all keep your eyes and ears open for anything unusual.

15. go in (at) one ear and out (at) the other informal if information goes in one ear and out the other, you forget it as soon as you have heard it:
I don’t know why I tell her anything. It just goes in one ear and out the other.

16. give somebody a thick ear British English informal to hit someone on the ear:
Behave yourself or I’ll give you a thick ear!

17. have sb’s ear to be trusted by someone so that they will listen to your advice, opinions etc:
He claimed to have the ear of several top ministers.

18. play something by ear to play music that you have heard without having to read written music ⇒ play it by ear at play¹(11)

19. sb’s ears are burning used to say that someone thinks that people are talking about them

20. sb’s ears are flapping British English spoken used to say that someone is trying to listen to your private conversation
⇒ dog-eared, ⇒ bend sb’s ear at bend¹(7), ⇒ send somebody off with a flea in their ear at flea(2), ⇒ make a pig’s ear of at pig¹(5), ⇒ prick (up) your ears at prick¹(5), ⇒ wet behind the ears at wet¹(7)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

ear
noun
I. part of the body
ADJ. left, right | inner, middle, outer | big, large | long a rabbit with long floppy ears
pointed/pointy | floppy | torn Blood from his torn ear was soaking his collar.
sharp His sharp ears had picked up the uncertainty in her voice.
trained To the trained ear the calls of these birds sound quite different.
listening In the silence everyone seemed to be aware of listening ears.
receptive, sympathetic She did not like the scheme, as she made clear every time she found a receptive ear (= sb willing to listen). The counsellor provided a sympathetic ear for students with problems.
VERB + EAR plug He plugged his ears with tissue paper to drown out the music.
close, shut, stop At first I stopped my ears to what I did not want to hear.
strain I strained my ears to catch the conversation in the other room.
prick up The dog pricked up its ears.
flatten, lay back, put back A horse may show annoyance by putting its ears back.
pierce I've just had my ears pierced so I'm going to buy some earrings.
syringe He could hear much better after having his ears syringed.
echo in, ring in The voices buzzing all around echoed in her ears. He went home with the teacher's warning ringing in his ears.
hiss in, whisper (sth) in | reach If news of the break-in reaches the boss's ears, we're in trouble.
EAR + VERB hear sth, pick sth up When the notes are played so close together the ear hears no space between them.
prick (up), twitch His ears pricked up when he heard his name mentioned.
be alert He waited in the darkness, his ears alert for the slightest sound.
strain She stood outside the room, her ears straining to hear what they were saying.
pop If you suck a sweet as the plane takes off it stops your ears popping.
ring The explosion set my ears ringing and even made me jump a bit.
EAR + NOUN canal, drum, lobe | infection | plug, protector | flap, muffs She put on her ear muffs and went out into the snow. | wax
PREP. in your ~ ‘Taxi?’ said a voice in my ear.
PHRASES beam/grin/smile from ear to ear, can't believe your ears She actually apologized. I couldn't believe my ears!
(drop/have) a word in sb's ear Drop a quiet word in her ear about it before it's too late.
fall on deaf ears Their complaints about the poor service fell on deaf ears (= were ignored).
for sb's ears alone I have a few words for your ears alone.
keep your ears open I'll keep my ears open for a second-hand bike for you.
music to sb's ears He arrived home hungry, and the noise of saucepans from the kitchen was music to his ears.
turn a deaf ear to sth The teacher turned a deaf ear to the boy's swearing (= ignored it).
with half an ear He listened to her with only half an ear as he watched TV.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

ear
II. ability to recognize sounds
ADJ. fine, good
VERB + EAR have
PREP. by ~ She usually plays the guitar by ear, rather than reading the music.
~ for He has a good ear for accents and can usually tell where a speaker comes from.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

ear

big
African elephants' ears are bigger than those of Indian elephants.
floppy (=soft and hanging down loosely, rather than being stiff)
a rabbit with big floppy ears
pointy/pointed
The dog has short pointy ears.
pierced (=with a hole in the skin where an earring can be put)
Her new boyfriend's got long hair and pierced ears.
somebody's left/right ear
She is deaf in her right ear.
inner/middle ear (=the parts inside your ear, which you use to hear sounds)
I've got an infection in my middle ear.
say/whisper something into somebody's ear
He whispered something into his wife's ear.
have your ears pierced (=have a hole put into the skin, so that you can wear an earring)
I had my ears pierced when I was quite young.
somebody's ears stick out (=they are noticeable because they do not lie flat against someone's head)
If my hair is too short, you can see that my ears stick out.
somebody's ears pop (=the pressure in them changes suddenly, for example when you go up or down quickly in a plane)
My ears finally popped when the plane landed.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

ear
̈ɪɪə
See: about one's ears or around one's ears , believe one's ears , dry behind the ears , flea in one's ear , give an ear to or lend an ear to , go in one ear and out the other , jug-eared , little pitchers have big ears , music to one's ears , pin one's ears back , play by ear , prick up one's ears , roasting ear , turn a deaf ear , up to the chin in or up to the ears in , wet behind the ears

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

EAR
See: Export Administration Regulations

[TahlilGaran] Acronyms and Abbreviations Dictionary ▲