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EAR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("ear" is a kind of...):
receptor; sense organ; sensory receptor (an organ having nerve endings (in the skin or viscera or eye or ear or nose or mouth) that respond to stimulation)
Meronyms (parts of "ear"):
vestibule of the ear (the central cavity of the bony labyrinth of the ear)
eardrum; myringa; tympanic membrane; tympanum (the membrane in the ear that vibrates to sound)
organ of hearing (the part of the ear that is responsible for sensations of sound)
fenestra (a small opening covered with membrane (especially one in the bone between the middle and inner ear))
arteria auricularis; auricular artery (artery that supplies blood to the ear)
Holonyms ("ear" is a part of...):
auditory system (the sensory system for hearing)
vestibular apparatus; vestibular system (organs mediating the labyrinthine sense; concerned with equilibrium)
caput; head (the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The externally visible cartilaginous structure of the external ear
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting body parts
Hypernyms ("ear" is a kind of...):
cartilaginous structure (body structure given shape by cartilage)
Meronyms (parts of "ear"):
tragus (a small cartilaginous flap in front of the external opening of the ear)
ear lobe; earlobe (the fleshy pendulous part of the external human ear)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ear"):
cauliflower ear (an auricle deformed by injury; common among boxers)
Holonyms ("ear" is a part of...):
external ear; outer ear (the part of the ear visible externally)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Good hearing
Example:
a good ear for pitch
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("ear" is a kind of...):
audition; auditory modality; auditory sense; hearing; sense of hearing (the ability to hear; the auditory faculty)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Attention to what is said
Example:
he tried to get her ear
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("ear" is a kind of...):
attending; attention (the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Fruiting spike of a cereal plant especially corn
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("ear" is a kind of...):
fruit (the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ear"):
mealie (an ear of corn)
Holonyms ("ear" is a part of...):
corn; Indian corn; maize; Zea mays (tall annual cereal grass bearing kernels on large ears: widely cultivated in America in many varieties; the principal cereal in Mexico and Central and South America since pre-Columbian times)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Present simple (first person singular and plural, second person singular and plural, third person plural) of the verb ear
Context examples:
For half an hour I sat with straining ears.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Seismic vibrations that are almost imperceptible to human ears ripple through the rocks.
(Song of the red rock arches, National Science Foundation)
It was only a snatch that reached our ears, followed by the former silence.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
“Mr. Utterson, sir, asking to see you,” he called; and even as he did so, once more violently signed to the lawyer to give ear.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
You yourself, brother Francis, have twice raised your voice, so it hath come to my ears, when the reader in the refectory hath been dealing with the lives of God's most blessed saints.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He had hardly got started with the work, however, when his quick ears caught the sounds of a distant car.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Towards morning I was possessed by a kind of nightmare; I felt the fiend’s grasp in my neck and could not free myself from it; groans and cries rang in my ears.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
The internal ear; the essential part of the organ of hearing.
(Murine Inner Ear, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
After that, the salivary glands under the ears or jaw become swollen and tender.
(Mumps, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
My uncle inclined his lips to my ear.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
