- ear
- noun
1 PART OF YOUR BODY (C) one of the organs on either side of your head that you hear with: Lou turned to Mark and whispered something in his ear.2 HEARING (U) the ability to hear sounds: too high-pitched to be heard by the human ear | have good ears (=be able to hear quiet noises)3 GRAIN (C) the top part of plants, such as wheat, that produces grain: an ear of corn4 long-eared/short-eared etc having long etc ears: a long-eared rabbit5 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.6 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.7 be up to your ears in work/debt/problems etc to have a lot of work etc: I'm up to my ears in work at the moment. Can we discuss this later?8 close/shut your ears to to refuse to listen to bad or unpleasant news9 smile/grin etc from ear to ear to show that you are very happy or pleased by smiling so much: She came out of his office, grinning from ear to ear. `I've been promoted.'10 give sb a thick ear BrE informal to hit someone: Behave yourself or I'll give you a thick ear!11 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.12 have an ear for music/languages etc to be very good at learning music, copying sounds etc: She has no ear for languages at all. | a good ear for dialogue13 have sb's ear to be trusted by someone so that they will listen to your advice, opinions etc: While Ross Perot had the ear of the nation, he did spout a number of home truths.14 keep your/an ear to the ground to make sure that you always know what is happening in a situation: I haven't heard any more news but I'll keep my ear to the ground.15 lend an ear to listen to what someone is saying sympathetically: I'm always ready to lend an ear, if you need to talk.16 play sth by ear to play music without having to read written music—see also: play it by ear play 1 (11)17 sb's ears are burning used to say that someone thinks that people are talking about them18 sb's ears are flapping BrE used to say that someone is trying to listen to your private conversation—see also: bend sb's ear bend 1 (5), send sb off with a flea in their ear flea (2), make a pig's ear of pig 1 (5), prick (up) your ears prick 1 (5), turn a deaf ear deaf (5), wet behind the ears wet 1 (6)
Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.