Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The seed-bearing spike of a cereal plant, such as corn.
- intransitive verb To form or grow ears.
- noun The vertebrate organ of hearing, responsible for maintaining equilibrium as well as sensing sound and divided in mammals into the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.
- noun The part of this organ that is externally visible.
- noun An invertebrate organ analogous to the mammalian ear.
- noun The sense of hearing.
- noun Sensitivity or receptiveness to sound, especially.
- noun Sharpness or refinement of hearing.
- noun The ability to play a passage of music solely from hearing it.
- noun Responsiveness to the sounds or forms of spoken language.
- noun Sympathetic or favorable attention.
- noun Something resembling the external ear in position or shape, especially.
- noun A flexible tuft of feathers located above the eyes of certain birds, such as owls, that functions in visual communication but not in hearing.
- noun A projecting handle, as on a vase or pitcher.
- noun A small box in the upper corner of the page in a newspaper or periodical that contains a printed notice, such as promotional material or weather information.
- noun Informal Headphones.
- idiom (all ears) Acutely attentive.
- idiom (coming out of (one's) ears) In more than adequate amounts; overabundant.
- idiom (give/lend) To pay close attention; listen attentively.
- idiom (have/keep) To be on the watch for new trends or information.
- idiom (in one ear and out the other) Without any influence or effect; unheeded.
- idiom (its/someone's) In a state of amazement, excitement, or uproar.
- idiom (up to (one's) ears) Deeply involved or occupied fully.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To shoot, as an ear; form ears, as corn.
- To cultivate with a plow; plow; till.
- Early.
- noun A kidney.
- noun A spike or head of corn or grain; that part of a cereal plant which contains the flowers and seed.
- To listen to; hear with attention.
- noun The organ of hearing; the apparatus of audition; the acoustic sense-organ; any mechanism by which an animal receives the impact of sound-waves and perceives them as sound.
- noun The external ear alone, known as the pinna, auricle, or concha: as, the horse laid his ears back.
- noun In ornithology: The auriculars or packet of auricular feathers which cover the external ear-passage of a bird.
- noun A plumicorn or corniplume; one of the “horns” of an owl.
- noun The sense of hearing; the power of distinguishing sounds; the power of nice perception of the differences of sound.
- noun Specifically, in music, the capacity to appreciate, analyze, and reproduce musical compositions by hearing them; sensitiveness to musical intonation and to differences of pitch and quality in musical sounds: as, a correct ear. Sometimes called a musical ear.
- noun A careful or favorable hearing; attention; heed.
- noun Disposition to listen; judgment; taste.
- noun A part of any inanimate object having some likeness to the external ear.
- noun In architecture, same as
crosset , 1 . - noun An aural instrument for the use of very deaf persons. It has a large pavilion secured by a swivel to a stand upon the floor, and an elastic tube with a nozle to be held to the ear.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To put forth ears in growing; to form ears, as grain.
- noun The spike or head of any cereal (as, wheat, rye, barley, Indian corn, etc.), containing the kernels.
- transitive verb To plow or till; to cultivate.
- transitive verb Sportive To take in with the ears; to hear.
- noun The organ of hearing; the external ear.
- noun The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; the power of discriminating between different tones; ; -- in the singular only.
- noun That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; any prominence or projection on an object, -- usually one for support or attachment; a lug; a handle. The
ears of a boat are outside kneepieces near the bow. SeeIllust. ofBell .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If the child has frequent ear infections, see a health worker or ear doctor.
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_First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear_.
Daily Strength for Daily Needs Mary W. Tileston
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The _bambino_, to express his agony, was _grinning from ear to ear_.
Little Novels of Italy Madonna Of The Peach-Tree, Ippolita In The Hills, The Duchess Of Nona, Messer Cino And The Live Coal, The Judgment Of Borso Maurice Henry Hewlett
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So, to return whence I began, it is no use imagining that we necessarily hear music by going to concerts and festivals and operas, exposing our bodily ear to showers and floods of sound, unless we happen to be in the right humour, unless we dispose, at the moment, of that rare and capricious thing -- the _inner ear_.
Hortus Vitae Essays on the Gardening of Life Vernon Lee 1895
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In all such cases it is "_first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear_."
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Our Saviour, therefore, so often compares the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of Grace, to growth from a seed, where it is "_first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear_," Mark iv.
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Its progress may be rapid, but, ideally considered, each new stage is conditioned by the one that went before: _first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear_.
The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss George L. Prentiss 1859
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We do not accuse Master Payne of this; but at times a little of the _a_ cheats the _o_ of its good old round rights; so distantly however, as not to be noticed except by a very accurate ear -- but he ought not to let _any ear_ discover it.
The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor Vol I, No. 2, February 1810 Samuel James Arnold 1813
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The soil produces of itself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear» (Mk 4: 26-28).
Spero News 2010
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*shuffles off to look for ear trumpet, forgetting it's already in his ear*
sonofgroucho commented on the word ear
Eh?
October 7, 2007
reesetee commented on the word ear
That's what I said.
October 8, 2007
uselessness commented on the word ear
Where'd I put my ear trumpet?
October 8, 2007
reesetee commented on the word ear
*tempted to tag ear trumpet as "musical instrument"*
October 9, 2007
oroboros commented on the word ear
EAR - (noun) - A colourless, odourless gas: Oxygen.
Usage: "He cain't breathe...give 'im some ear!"
April 8, 2008
lampbane commented on the word ear
Kearney Regional Airport.
October 24, 2008
brobbins commented on the word ear
respond, response
July 22, 2009