/ ɪə(r); NAmE ɪr/ noun
1.
[ C ] either of the organs on the sides of the head that you hear with :
an ear infection
the inner / outer ear
She whispered something in his ear.
He put his hands over his ears.
She's had her ears pierced.
The elephant flapped its ears.
He was always there with a sympathetic ear (= a willingness to listen to people) .
—picture at body
—see also cauliflower ear , glue ear , middle ear
2.
-eared (in adjectives) having the type of ears mentioned :
a long-eared owl
3.
[ sing. ] an ability to recognize and copy sounds well :
You need a good ear to master the piano.
4.
[ C ] the top part of a grain plant, such as wheat , that contains the seeds :
ears of corn
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IDIOMS
- be all ears
- be out on your ear
- be up to your ears in sth
- sth comes to / reaches sb's ears
- sb's ears are burning
- sb's ears are flapping
- go in one ear and out the other
- have sth coming out of your ears
- have sb's ear | have the ear of sb
- keep / have your ear to the ground
- play (sth) by ear
- play it by ear
- shut / close your ears to sth
- smile / grin / beam from ear to ear
- with half an ear
—more at believe , bend verb , box noun , box verb , cock verb , deaf adjective , easy adjective , feel verb , flea , lend , music , open adjective , pig noun , prick verb , ring verb , silk , thick adjective , wall noun , wet adjective , word noun
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WORD ORIGIN
senses 1 to 3 and idsym. Old English ēare , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch oor and German Ohr , from an Indo-European root shared by Latin auris and Greek ous .
sense 4 Old English ēar , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch aar and German Ähre .