See Also: palmtop(dictionary)

ear(1) (iou) and palmtop (oh)


ear(1) (iou)



ear noun1.
[Old English eare = Old Frisian are, Old Saxon, Old High German ora (Dutch oor, German Ohr), Old Norse eyra, Gothic auso, from Germanic, from Indo-European base also of Latin auris, Greek ous, os.]
I.
The organ of hearing in humans and animals, considered with regard to its function or to its structure (in mammals divisible generally into the external ear, middle ear, and inner ear: see below). OE.
H. C. Jackson Rumours have come to my ears. W. N. Hodgson The summons in our ears was shrill. fig.: T. H. White He listened to their difficulties with an impatient ear.
b. The imagined organ of hearing of the mind, the heart, or Other quasi-personified object. LME.
Proverb: Walls have ears (i.e. there may be listeners anywhere). J. H. Burton The illustrious Eastern conqueror, whose name fills the ear of fame.
spec. The external ear. OE.
J. T. Farrell Plunked in here all afternoon without even room to wriggle my ears.
Voluntary hearing, listening, attention. ME.
C. Chaplin Mother..kept an alert ear on the way we talked, correcting our grammar.
sing. & in pl. The sense of hearing; auditory perception. ME.
Chesterfield Most people have ears, but few have judgement.
The faculty of discriminating sounds; esp. the ability to recognize musical intervals (more fully ear for Music, musical ear). E16.
P. H. Newby I understand Arabic. I've an ear for Languages.
II. An object resembling the external ear in appearance, shape, position, or function.
An atrium of the heart. LME-L17.
The handle of a drinking-vessel, bottle, etc. LME.
A projection on the side of a tool or a piece of machinery, serving as a support, handle, etc. L16.
Zoology & Botany. = AURICLE 3. L17.
In pl. A citizens'-band Radio; the aerial of such a Radio. Chiefly in have one's ears on. US slang. L20.
Phrases: about one's ears down upon oneself. all ears eagerly attentive. a word in a person's ear: see WORD noun. BELIEVE one's ear(s). bend someone's ear: see BEND verb. cauliflower ear: see CAULIFLOWER noun. close one's ears refuse to listen. CLOTH ears. cock one's ears, cock the ears: see COCK verb1 6. dry behind the ears mature, experienced. ear for Music: see sense 5 above. external ear the pinna, with or without the meatus leading to the eardrum. fall on deaf ears: see DEAF adjective 3. fall on someone's ear(s) be heard by someone. gain the ear of obtain the favourable attention of. get the right sow by the ear, get the wrong sow by the ear: see SOW noun1. give ear listen. go away with a flea in one's ear: see FLEA noun. go in at one ear and out at the Other, go in one ear and out the Other be heard but leave no impression. have a person's ear have a person's favourable attention. have a wolf by the ears: see WOLF noun. have by the ears keep or obtain a secure hold on. have one's ear to the ground be on the alert regarding rumours or trend of opinion. have the ear of have the favourable attention of. have the right sow by the ear, have the wrong sow by the ear: see SOW noun1. head over ears: see over ears below. hold a wolf by the ears: see WOLF noun. inner ear, internal ear the labyrinth of the temporal bone, containing the semicircular canals and the cochlea. lead by the ears keep in abject dependence. lend an ear, lend one's ears: see LEND verb. long ear: see LONG adjective1. middle ear the eardrum and the space (containing the ossicles) between the eardrum and the inner ear. musical ear: see sense 5 above. Music to one's ears: see Music noun. on one's ear (a) roused, indignant; (b) drunk. one's ears burn: see BURN verb 4. open one's ears listen. outer ear = external ear above. out on one's ear dismissed ignominiously. over ears, over head and ears, head over ears deeply immersed (lit. & fig.). pin a person's ears back, pin one's ears back: see PIN verb. play by ear, play it by ear: see PLAY verb. prick one's ears, prick up one's ears, prick the ears, prick up the ears: see PRICK verb. sea-ear: see SEA. send away with a flea in his or her ear: see FLEA noun. set by the ears put at variance, cause to quarrel. speak in a person's ear: see SPEAK verb. stop one's ears: see STOP verb. talk a person's ear off: see TALK verb. thick ear: see THICK adjective. third ear: see THIRD adjective & noun. tin ear: see TIN noun & adjective. turn a deaf ear (to): see DEAF adjective 3. up to the ears colloq. very deeply involved (in). wet behind the ears immature, inexperienced. with a flea in one's ear: see FLEA noun. would give one's ears: see GIVE verb.
Comb.: earache pain in the (middle) ear; ear-bash verb intrans. & trans. (slang) talk inordinately (to); ear-basher slang a chatterer, a bore; ear-biter slang a habitual borrower of money; ear candy colloq. light popular Music that is pleasant and Entertaining but intellectually undemanding (cf. eye candy s.v. EYE noun); ear-clip an earring, esp. one that clips on; ear covert = AURICULAR noun 2; ear-defenders (a pair of) plugs or ear-muffs which protect the eardrums from loud or persistent noise; ear-drops (a) medicinal drops for the ear; (b) hanging earrings; eardrum the membrane of the middle ear, closing the inner end of the external auditory meatus and serving to transmit sound to the ossicles; also, the entire hollow part of the middle ear; ear finger the little finger (as most easily inserted into the ear); ear-flap (a) = ear lobe below; (b) a flap of material covering the ear; earhole the orifice of the ear; ear-lap, ear lobe the lower soft pendulous part of the external ear; ear-lock a lock of hair over or above the ear; earmuff a covering for the ear to protect it from cold, noise, etc.; earphone a device worn on the ear to aid hearing or to listen to Radio, telephone, etc., communication; ear-pick, ear-picker an instrument for clearing the ear of wax etc.; earpiece (a) a part of a helmet covering the ear; (b) an apparatus designed to be applied to the ear, as part of a telephone, Radio receiver, etc.; ear-piercing adjective shrill; earplug (a) an ornament worn in the lobe of the ear; (b) a wad of cotton wool, wax, etc., placed in the ear to keep out cold air, water, or excessive noise; earring an ornament, orig. always a ring, now often a drop, stud, etc., worn on the lobe of the ear; earringed adjective wearing earrings; ear-shell (the shell of) an edible mollusc of the genus Haliotis, an abalone; ear-splitting adjective excessively loud; ear-stud: see STUD noun1 5d; ear-trumpet a conical tube (formerly) used by the partially deaf as an aid to hearing; ear-tuft either of a pair of tufts of longer feathers on the top of the head of a bird, esp. of some owls; earwax a yellow waxy secretion which collects in the external ear; ear-witness: whose testimony is based on his or her own hearing.
earful noun (colloq.) a large quantity of talk; a strong reprimand: E20.
earlike adjective resembling an ear in shape E19.

palmtop (oh)



a very small computer that you can hold in your hand
-see also laptop laptop, notebook notebook