noun
1 part of the body
ADJECTIVE
▪ left , right
▪ inner , middle
▪ external , outer
▪ big , large
▪ long
▪
a rabbit with long floppy ~s
▪ pointed , pointy
▪ floppy
▪ pierced
▪ torn
▪
Blood from his torn ~ was soaking his collar.
▪ listening
▪
In the silence everyone seemed to be aware of listening ~s.
▪ sensitive
▪
Blackbirds have such sensitive ~s that they can hear a worm moving beneath soil three feet away.
▪ human
▪
Dogs can hear things that human ~s can't hear.
▪ attentive , open ( BrE ), receptive , sympathetic
▪
Even if my fears were silly, he always had an open ~.
▪
She did not like the plan, as she made clear every time she found a receptive ~ (= sb willing to listen) .
▪
She always provided a sympathetic ~ for students with problems.
▪ modern
▪
Some of the words used in 18th-century writing sound strange to modern ~s.
▪ Western
▪
Chinese music uses a scale that is unfamiliar to Western ~s.
VERB + EAR
▪ plug , stop
▪
He plugged his ~s to drown out the music.
▪
At first I stopped my ~s to what I did not want to hear.
▪ block , close , cover , shut
▪
The music was so loud I had to cover my ~s.
▪ strain
▪
I strained my ~s to catch the conversation in the other room.
▪ cock , prick up
▪
The dog pricked up its ~s.
▪ flatten , lay back , pin back , put back
▪
A horse may show annoyance by putting its ~s back.
▪ flick , twitch
▪
The horse lifted its head and flicked its ~s.
▪ nibble , nibble on , nuzzle
▪
She nibbled on his ~.
▪ pierce
▪
I've just had my ~s pierced.
▪ clean , clean out , syringe ( BrE )
▪
He could hear much better after having his ~s cleaned out.
▪ echo in , pound in , ring in
▪
The voices buzzing all around echoed in her ~s.
▪
My heart was pounding in my ~s.
▪
He went home with the teacher's warning ringing in his ~s.
▪ fill , flood
▪
The sound of the blast filled my ~s.
▪ assault , greet , hit , meet , strike
▪
A blast of punk rock music assaulted her ~s.
▪ reach
▪
If news of the break-in reaches the boss's ~s, we're in trouble.
▪ hurt
▪
The music was so loud that it hurt my ~s.
▪ hiss in , whisper (sth) in
▪ shout in , yell in
▪ press
▪
He pressed his ~ to the door, but heard nothing.
EAR + VERB
▪ catch sth , detect sth , hear sth , pick sth up
▪
When the notes are played so close together the ~ hears no space between them.
▪ prick , prick up , twitch
▪
His ~s pricked up when he heard his name mentioned.
▪ tell sb sth
▪
She couldn't see, but her ~s told her that the guards had arrived.
▪ be alert , listen
▪
He waited in the darkness, his ~s alert for the slightest sound.
▪
Her ~s listened expectantly.
▪ strain
▪
She stood outside the room, her ~s straining to hear what they were saying.
▪ pop
▪
If you swallow as the plane takes off, it stops your ~s from popping.
▪ ring
▪
The explosion set my ~s ringing.
▪ ache , hurt , pound
▪ redden
▪
Christopher felt his ~s reddening.
▪ stick out
▪
He has really big ~s that stick out.
EAR + NOUN
▪ canal , drum , lobe
▪ infection , problem
▪ wax (usually earwax )
▪ drops
▪ plug (usually earplug ) , protector
▪ protection
▪ flap , muffs (usually earmuffs )
▪
She put on her earmuffs and went out into the snow.
▪
a big hat with ~ flaps
▪ buds ( esp. AmE ), phones , piece , set (usually earbuds , earphones , etc.)
▪
I love my portable music player, but I hate earbuds.
▪ tag
▪
Each animal receives an individual ~ tag.
▪ piercing
▪
He had three ~ piercings.
▪ cuff ⇨ See also ↑ earring
PREPOSITION
▪ in your ~
▪
‘Taxi?’ said a voice in my ~.
PHRASES
▪ be all ~s
▪
Come on, tell me, I'm all ~s ( = I want to hear ).
▪ beam, grin, smile, etc. from ear to ear
▪
He was beaming from ear to ear.
▪ bend sb's ~ (= talk a lot to someone about something)
▪
She bent my ~ about it for three days.
▪ can't believe your ~s
▪
She actually apologized. I couldn't believe my ~s!
▪ catch sb's ~
▪
A small noise caught his ~.
▪ clap, hold, put, etc. your hands over your ~s
▪
She put her hands over her ~s to block out what he was saying.
▪ (have) a word in sb's ~ ( esp. BrE )
▪
Have a quiet word in her ~ about it before it's too late.
▪ sb's ~s are burning (= a person thinks that someone is talking about them)
▪
‘We were talking about you last night.’ ‘I thought my ~s were burning.’
▪ fall on deaf ~s
▪
Their complaints about the poor service fell on deaf ~s (= were ignored) .
▪ for sb's ~s alone
▪
I have a few words for your ~s alone.
▪ keep an ~ open , keep your ~s open
▪
I'll keep my eyes and ~s open for a second-hand bike for you.
▪ lend an ~ (= listen to what someone is saying)
▪
He was always willing to lend an ~.
▪ music to sb's ~s
▪
He arrived home hungry, and the noise from the kitchen was music to his ~s.
▪ go in one ~ and out the other
▪
I knew that my words were going in one ~ and out the other ( = the person wasn't listening to what I was saying ).
▪ have sb's ~
▪
This was the woman who had the ~ of the President.
(= was trusted by him/her)
▪ talk sb's ~ off
▪
I'm sorry for talking your ~ off.
(= talking a lot)
▪ turn a deaf ~ to sth
▪
The teacher turned a deaf ~ to the boy's requests (= ignored them) .
▪ with half an ~
▪
He listened to her with only half an ~ as he watched TV.
2 ability to recognize sounds
ADJECTIVE
▪ fine , good , keen , sharp
▪
He has a keen ~ for dialogue.
▪
His sharp ~s had picked up the uncertainty in her voice.
▪ trained , untrained
▪
To the trained ~ the calls of these birds sound quite different.
VERB + EAR
▪ have
▪ attune
▪
It takes time to attune your ~ to the local accent.
PREPOSITION
▪ by ~
▪
She usually plays the guitar by ~, rather than reading the music.
▪ ~ for
▪
He has a good ~ for accents and can usually tell where a speaker comes from.
PHRASES
▪ have a tin ~ for sth ( esp. AmE )
▪
She has a tin ~ for melody ( = does not appreciate it ).