Ear Definition

îr
ears
noun
ears
The part of the body specialized for the perception of sound; organ of hearing: the human ear consists of the external ear, the middle ear (tympanum), and the inner ear (labyrinth), which also senses one's state of equilibrium.
Webster's New World
The visible, external part of the ear.
Webster's New World
An invertebrate organ analogous to the mammalian ear.
American Heritage Medicine
The sense of hearing.
Webster's New World
Sensitivity or receptiveness to sound, especially:
American Heritage
Antonyms:
verb
ears
To sprout ears; form ears.
Webster's New World

(archaic) To plough.

Wiktionary

Eye dialect spelling of hear.

Wiktionary
abbreviation
(computing) Initialism of Enterprise Archive. (A file format used to package Java programming language applications.)
Wiktionary
idiom
all ears
  • Acutely attentive:

    Tell your story—we're all ears!

American Heritage
coming out of (one's) ears
  • In more than adequate amounts; overabundant.
American Heritage
give
  • To pay close attention; listen attentively.
American Heritage
have
  • To be on the watch for new trends or information.
American Heritage
in one ear and out the other
  • Without any influence or effect; unheeded:

    His mind was made up, so my arguments went in one ear and out the other.

American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Ear

Noun

Singular:
ear
Plural:
ears

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Ear

Origin of Ear

  • From Middle English ere, ȝhere, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”) (compare Scots ear, West Frisian ear, Dutch oor, German Ohr, Swedish öra, Danish øre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ous- (compare Old Irish áu, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausìs, Russian ухо (úxo), Albanian vesh, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), Old Armenian ունկն (unkn), Persian گوش (guš)).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English er, from Old English ēar, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz (compare West Frisian ier, Dutch aar, German Ähre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ék- 'sharp' (compare Latin acus 'needle; husk', Tocharian B āk 'ear, awn', Old Church Slavonic ostĭ 'wheat spike, sharp point'). More at edge.

    From Wiktionary

  • A representation of the pronunciation of hear by a speaker whose dialect lacks the voiceless glottal fricative or transition (IPA: [h]).

    From Wiktionary

  • From Old English erian, from Proto-Germanic *arjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English ere from Old English ēare ous- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English ere from Old English ēar ak- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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