Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In zoology, a valvular external cutaneous ear which can be shut down upon the auditory opening.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An imaginary fold of skin that would allow the
ear to be closed as theeye can be.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
ear + lid
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Examples
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oroboros commented on the word earlid
The antidote for earworm.
"The response is not only emotional but involuntary. It's not just that we don't have earlids to shut out unwanted sounds. Once a word is seen or heard, we are incapable of treating it as a squiggle or noise; we reflexively look it up in memory and respond to its meaning, including its connotation."
--What the F***? Why We Curse article by Steven Pinker in The New Republic. See chained_bear's list.
August 21, 2008