I. lis ‧ ten 1 S1 W1 /ˈlɪs ə n/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hlysnan ]
1 . to pay attention to what someone is saying or to a sound that you can hear:
Listen! There’s a strange noise in the engine.
listen to
We sat around listening to music.
listen carefully/intently/hard etc
The whole class was listening attentively.
Liz stood still and listened hard (=very carefully) .
► Listen is never followed directly by a noun. Use to and then a noun or a clause : Listen to what I say (NOT Listen what I say).
2 . spoken used to tell someone to pay attention to what you are going to say:
Listen, I want you to come with me.
3 . to consider what someone says and accept their advice:
I told him not to go, but he just wouldn’t listen.
listen to
I wish I’d listened to Dad.
She refused to listen to reason (=accept sensible advice) .
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ listen to pay attention to what someone is saying or to a sound that you hear:
I didn’t hear the answer, because I wasn’t listening when she read it out.
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He listened carefully to every word I said.
▪ pay attention to listen carefully to what someone is saying:
I nodded to show I was paying attention.
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She was tired and wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying.
▪ eavesdrop to secretly listen to someone else’s conversation by standing near them, hiding behind a door etc:
I caught him eavesdropping on our conversation.
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They spoke in quiet voices which made it hard to eavesdrop.
▪ overhear to hear someone say something, especially accidentally:
I overheard him say something about wanting to move house.
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Excuse me! I couldn’t help overhearing that you were planning a trip to Thailand.
▪ tune in (to something) to listen to a radio programme, or to someone using a radio ↑ transmitter :
Over a million people tune in to the programme each week.
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Tune in at the same time next week for the next episode.
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The equipment could be used by criminals to tune in to police broadcasts.
▪ tap to connect a piece of electronic recording equipment to a telephone system so that you can listen to people’s telephone conversations:
The police had tapped the phones of all three suspects.
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The President had to resign over an illegal phone-tapping operation.
▪ bug to hide a small piece of electronic recording equipment in someone’s room, car, office etc in order to listen secretly to what is said there:
Security agents bugged their offices and managed to get some evidence against them.
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Wells was convinced the house was bugged and insisted on playing loud music while we talked.
listen for something phrasal verb
to listen carefully so that you will notice a particular sound:
Listen for the moment when the music changes.
listen in phrasal verb
1 . to listen to a broadcast on the radio
listen in to
I must remember to listen in to the news.
⇨ ↑ tune in (1)
2 . to listen to someone’s conversation when they do not want you to
listen in on
It sounded like someone was listening in on us.
listen out phrasal verb British English informal
to listen carefully so that you will notice a particular sound
listen out for
Listen out for the baby in case she wakes up.
listen up phrasal verb spoken especially American English
used to get people’s attention so they can hear what you are going to say:
Hey everybody, listen up!
II. listen 2 BrE AmE noun
a listen British English informal an act of listening:
Have a listen to this new album!