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Ear

//ɪə̯// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea. countable
  2. 2
    The fruiting body of a grain plant. countable

    "He is in the fields, harvesting ears of corn."

  3. 3
    Initialism of Enterprise Application Archive, a file format used to package Java applications. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  4. 4
    the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium wordnet
  5. 5
    The external part of the organ of hearing, the auricle. countable

    "Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair."

Show 15 more definitions
  1. 6
    Initialism of estimated average requirements. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  2. 7
    the externally visible cartilaginous structure of the external ear wordnet
  3. 8
    A police informant. countable, slang

    "No I'm not kidding, and if you don't give it to me I'll let it out that you’re an ear."

  4. 9
    good hearing wordnet
  5. 10
    The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; skill or good taste in listening to music.

    "a good ear for music"

  6. 11
    attention to what is said wordnet
  7. 12
    The privilege of being kindly heard; favour; attention.

    "Dionysius[…]would give no ear to his suit."

  8. 13
    fruiting spike of a cereal plant especially corn wordnet
  9. 14
    That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; a prominence or projection on an object, usually for support or attachment; a lug; a handle; a foot-rest or step of a spade or a similar digging tool.

    "the ears of a tub, skillet, or dish; The ears of a boat are outside kneepieces near the bow."

  10. 15
    An acroterium.
  11. 16
    A crossette.
  12. 17
    A space to the left or right of a publication's front-page title, used for advertising, weather, etc.

    "In journalism, ears flank the title as boxes in the left and right top corners of a publication (generally a newspaper)."

  13. 18
    A curled ridge in the crust of a loaf of bread where the dough was slashed before going into the oven and expands during baking.
  14. 19
    The outer panels or flaps (protrusions) of a diaper upon which the fasteners are located, which are fastened around the wearer's waist.
  15. 20
    A path whose endpoints may coincide but in which otherwise there are no repetitions of vertices or edges.
Verb
  1. 1
    To take in with the ears; to hear. humorous, transitive

    "I eared her language."

  2. 2
    To put forth ears in growing; to form ears, as grain does. intransitive

    "This corn ears well."

  3. 3
    To plough. archaic

    "That power I have, discharge; and let them go To ear the land that hath some hope to grow, For I have none."

  4. 4
    To hold by the ears. transitive

    "Sometimes, the helper eared the horse down; and sometimes he used a blindfold."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English ere, eare, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from Proto-West Germanic *auʀā, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”) (compare Scots ear, West Frisian ear, Dutch oor, German Ohr, Swedish öra, Danish øre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws (compare Old Irish áu, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausi̇̀s, Russian у́хо (úxo), Albanian vesh, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), and Old Armenian ունկն (unkn).

Etymology 2

From Middle English ere, eare, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from Proto-West Germanic *auʀā, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”) (compare Scots ear, West Frisian ear, Dutch oor, German Ohr, Swedish öra, Danish øre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws (compare Old Irish áu, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausi̇̀s, Russian у́хо (úxo), Albanian vesh, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), and Old Armenian ունկն (unkn).

Etymology 3

From Middle English eere, er, from Old English ēar (Northumbrian dialect æhher), from Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”). See also West Frisian ier, Dutch aar, German Ähre; also Latin acus (“needle; husk”), Tocharian B āk (“ear, awn”), Old Church Slavonic ость (ostĭ, “wheat spike, sharp point”). More at edge.

Etymology 4

From Middle English eere, er, from Old English ēar (Northumbrian dialect æhher), from Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”). See also West Frisian ier, Dutch aar, German Ähre; also Latin acus (“needle; husk”), Tocharian B āk (“ear, awn”), Old Church Slavonic ость (ostĭ, “wheat spike, sharp point”). More at edge.

Etymology 5

From Middle English eren, from Old English erian, from Proto-West Germanic *arjan, from Proto-Germanic *arjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”).

See also for "ear"

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