hear
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Old English hȳran (“to hear”)
[edit] Pronunciation
- (UK) enPR: hēə(r), IPA: /hɪə(ɹ)/, SAMPA: /hI@(r)/
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Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪə(r)
- (US) enPR: hēr, IPA: /hiːɹ/, SAMPA: /hi:r/
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Audio (US) (file) - Homophones: here, hir
[edit] Verb
hear (third-person singular simple present hears, present participle hearing, simple past and past participle heard)
- (intransitive) To have the faculty of being able to perceive sounds, through the ear. [from 10th c.]
- I was deaf, and now I can hear.
- (transitive) To perceive (a sound, or something producing a sound) with the ear, to recognize (something) in an auditory way. [from 10th c.]
- I heard a sound from outside the window.
- (transitive) To excercise this faculty intentionally; to listen to. [from 10th c.]
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, John X:
- Agayne there was dissencion amonge the iewes for these sayinges, and many of them sayd: He hath the devyll, and is madde: why heare ye hym?
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, John X:
- (transitive) To listen favourably to; to grant (a request etc.). [from 10th c.]
- Eventually the king chose to hear her entreaties.
- (transitive) To receive information about; to come to learn of. [from 10th c.]
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:
- Adam, soon as he heard / The fatal Trespass don by Eve, amaz'd, / Astonied stood and Blank [...].
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:
- (transitive) To listen to (a person, case) in a court of law; to try. [from 12th c.]
- Your case will be heard at the end of the month.
[edit] Derived terms
- another county heard from
- forehear
- hard of hearing
- hear about
- hear hear
- hear on the grapevine
- hear out
- hear the grass grow
- hearing aid
- mishear
- overhear
- rehear
[edit] Translations
To perceive with the ear
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- hear in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- hear in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
