EAR

I. noun Etymology: Middle English ere, from Old English ēare; akin to Old High German ōra ~, Latin auris, Greek ous Date: before 12th century 1. the characteristic vertebrate organ of h~ing and equilibrium consisting in the typical mammal of a sound-collecting outer ~ separated by the tympanic membrane from a sound-transmitting middle ~ that in turn is separated from a sensory inner ~ by membranous fenestrae, any of various organs (as of a fish) capable of detecting vibratory motion, the external ~ of humans and most mammals, 3. the sense or act of h~ing, acuity of h~ing, sensitivity to musical tone and pitch, sensitivity to nuances of language especially as revealed in the command of verbal melody and rhythm or in the ability to render a spoken idiom accurately, something resembling a mammalian ~ in shape, position, or function: as, a projecting part (as a lug or handle), either of a pair of tufts of lengthened feathers on the head of some birds, attention , awareness , a space in the upper corner of the front page of a periodical (as a newspaper) usually containing advertising for the periodical itself or a weather forecast, a person who listens ; listener , II. noun see: edge Date: before 12th century the fruiting spike of a cereal (as wheat or Indian corn) including both the seeds and protective structures, III. intransitive verb Date: 14th century to form ~s in growing