listening

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪs.nɪŋ/, /ˈlɪs.ən.ɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English listnynge, lustninde, from Old English hlysnende, equivalent to listen +‎ -ing.

Adjective

listening (not comparable)

1. Of something or someone that listens.

   Any listening person can tell she's lying.

2. Of something that is used in order to hear or to improve the ability to hear.

   He could hear better when he used his listening device.

3. Of an action that is performed with caution and attention to sounds.
   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 5, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:

     The safest cover lay close under the wall of the cañon, and here through the dense thickets Venters made his slow, listening advance toward the oval.

Translations

of something that listens

• Finnish: kuunteleva (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

of something that is used in order to hear

• Finnish: kuulo- (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

of an action that is performed with caution and attention to sounds

• Finnish: varovainen (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

listening

1. present participle of listen

Derived terms

• listening post
• listening station

Etymology 2

From Middle English listnynge, lustnynge, lystenynge, equivalent to listen +‎ -ing.

Noun

listening (plural listenings)

1. Action of the verb listening
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.

2. An educational exercise involving listening

   OK, students, today we're going to do a couple of listenings about the environment, then a reading about crime.

3. Skill or ability of perceiving spoken language.

   You can improve your listening well by watching English-language films.

Translations

act of listening

• Finnish: kuuntelu (fi)
• French: écouter (fr) f
• German: Zuhören n
• Latin: auditus (la)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lytting m or f

  Nynorsk: lytting f

• Russian: слу́шание (ru) n (slúšanije), прослу́шивание (ru) n (proslúšivanije)

ability of perceiving spoken language

• Dutch: luisteren (nl) n
• Finnish: kuullun ymmärtäminen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: ауди́рование (ru) n (audírovanije)

Anagrams

• enlisting, tinseling