o‧ver‧hear /ˌəʊvəˈhɪə $ ˌoʊvərˈhɪr/ verb (past tense and past participle overheard /-ˈhɜːd $ -ˈhɜːrd/) [transitive]
[Word Family: adjective: unheard, unheard, of; verb: hear, overhear; noun: hearing, hearer]
to accidentally hear what other people are saying, when they do not know that you have heard:
I overheard part of their conversation.
overhear somebody saying something
She overheard the management discussing pay rises.
overhear somebody say (that)
We overheard the teacher say there would be a pop quiz today.
I couldn’t help overhearing your argument.
⇒ eavesdrop

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

overhear
verb
ADV. accidentally
PHRASES couldn't help overhearing sth Excuse me for interrupting, but I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

hear to know that a sound is being made, using your ears:
There’s no need to shout – I can hear you!
Voices could be heard in the distance.
listen to pay attention to something, using your ears:
I was listening to the news on the car radio.
He never listens to anything I say.
make out to hear something with difficulty:
When I got closer, I could make out a human voice.
I could just make out what he was saying.
overhear to accidentally hear another person’s conversation:
I overheard her say to her friend that she had lost something.
catch to hear something that someone says:
Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.
I caught the last few minutes of the programme.
tune in to listen to a programme – often used in announcements on the radio:
Tune in for all the latest news and views from around the world.
Thousands of people tune in to the show every week.
audible adjective loud enough to be heard:
Her words were clearly audible.
an audible whisper

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

listen to pay attention to what someone is saying or to a sound that you hear:
I didn’t hear the answer, because I wasn’t listening when she read it out.
He listened carefully to every word I said.
pay attention to listen carefully to what someone is saying:
I nodded to show I was paying attention.
She was tired and wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying.
eavesdrop to secretly listen to someone else’s conversation by standing near them, hiding behind a door etc:
I caught him eavesdropping on our conversation.
They spoke in quiet voices which made it hard to eavesdrop.
overhear to hear someone say something, especially accidentally:
I overheard him say something about wanting to move house.
Excuse me! I couldn’t help overhearing that you were planning a trip to Thailand.
tune in (to something) to listen to a radio programme, or to someone using a radio transmitter:
Over a million people tune in to the programme each week.
Tune in at the same time next week for the next episode.
The equipment could be used by criminals to tune in to police broadcasts.
tap to connect a piece of electronic recording equipment to a telephone system so that you can listen to people’s telephone conversations:
The police had tapped the phones of all three suspects.
The President had to resign over an illegal phone-tapping operation.
bug to hide a small piece of electronic recording equipment in someone’s room, car, office etc in order to listen secretly to what is said there:
Security agents bugged their offices and managed to get some evidence against them.
Wells was convinced the house was bugged and insisted on playing loud music while we talked.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲