ear S2 W2 /ɪə $ ɪr/ BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1,2: Language: Old English ; Origin: eare ]
[ Sense 3: Language: Old English ; Origin: ear ]
1 . PART OF YOUR BODY [countable] one of the organs on either side of your head that you hear with:
She tucked her hair behind her ears.
long-eared/short-eared etc
a long-eared rabbit
2 . GRAIN [countable] the top part of a plant such as wheat that produces grain
ear of
an ear of corn
3 . smile/grin etc from ear to ear to show that you are very happy or pleased by smiling a lot:
She came out of his office, beaming from ear to ear.
4 . reach somebody's ears if something reaches someone's ears, they hear about it or find out about it:
The news eventually reached the ears of the king.
5 . to somebody's ears used when saying how something sounds to someone:
It sounds odd to the ears of an ordinary English speaker.
6 . [singular] the ability to learn music, copy sounds etc
ear for
She has no ear for languages at all.
a good ear for dialogue
7 . a sympathetic ear used to say that someone listens sympathetically to what someone is saying:
He’s always prepared to lend a sympathetic ear.
8 . close/shut your ears to something to refuse to listen to bad or unpleasant news:
You can’t just close your ears to their warnings.
⇨ turn a deaf ear at ↑ deaf (4), ⇨ fall on deaf ears at ↑ deaf (5)
9 . be all ears informal to be very keen to hear what someone is going to tell you:
As soon as I mentioned money, Karen was all ears.
10 . be out on your ear informal to be forced to leave a job, organization etc, especially because you have done something wrong:
You’d better start working harder, or you’ll be out on your ear.
11 . be up to your ears in work/debt/problems etc to have a lot of work etc
12 . have something coming out (of) your ears informal to have too much of something:
We’ve got pumpkins coming out our ears this time of year.
13 . keep your/an ear to the ground to make sure that you always know what is happening in a situation
14 . keep your ears open to always be listening in order to find out what is happening or to hear some useful information:
I hope you’ll all keep your eyes and ears open for anything unusual.
15 . go in (at) one ear and out (at) the other informal if information goes in one ear and out the other, you forget it as soon as you have heard it:
I don’t know why I tell her anything. It just goes in one ear and out the other.
16 . give somebody a thick ear British English informal to hit someone on the ear:
Behave yourself or I’ll give you a thick ear!
17 . have sb’s ear to be trusted by someone so that they will listen to your advice, opinions etc:
He claimed to have the ear of several top ministers.
18 . play something by ear to play music that you have heard without having to read written music ⇨ play it by ear at ↑ play 1 (11)
19 . sb’s ears are burning used to say that someone thinks that people are talking about them
20 . sb’s ears are flapping British English spoken used to say that someone is trying to listen to your private conversation
⇨ ↑ dog-eared , ⇨ bend sb’s ear at ↑ bend 1 (7), ⇨ send somebody off with a flea in their ear at ↑ flea (2), ⇨ make a pig’s ear of at ↑ pig 1 (5), ⇨ prick (up) your ears at ↑ prick 1 (5), ⇨ wet behind the ears at ↑ wet 1 (7)
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ big
African elephants' ears are bigger than those of Indian elephants.
▪ floppy (=soft and hanging down loosely, rather than being stiff)
a rabbit with big floppy ears
▪ pointy/pointed
The dog has short pointy ears.
▪ pierced (=with a hole in the skin where an earring can be put)
Her new boyfriend's got long hair and pierced ears.
▪ somebody's left/right ear
She is deaf in her right ear.
▪ inner/middle ear (=the parts inside your ear, which you use to hear sounds)
I've got an infection in my middle ear.
■ verbs
▪ say/whisper something into somebody's ear
He whispered something into his wife's ear.
▪ have your ears pierced (=have a hole put into the skin, so that you can wear an earring)
I had my ears pierced when I was quite young.
▪ somebody's ears stick out (=they are noticeable because they do not lie flat against someone's head)
If my hair is too short, you can see that my ears stick out.
▪ somebody's ears pop (=the pressure in them changes suddenly, for example when you go up or down quickly in a plane)
My ears finally popped when the plane landed.