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单词 ear
释义

earn.1

Brit. /ɪə/, U.S. /ɪ(ə)r/
Forms:

α. early Old English aer- (in compounds), early Old English ęr- (in compounds), Old English ęar- (Northumbrian, in compounds), Old English eara (rare), Old English eararan (plural, transmission error), Old English earo- (Northumbrian, in compounds), Old English eor- (Anglian, inflected form), Old English eure (rare), Old English hear- (Northumbrian, inflected form), Old English (rare) Middle English (in compounds) 1500s– ear, Old English (rare)–early Middle English ære, Old English–1600s eare, late Old English eæræ, late Old English eære, early Middle English earre (plural), Middle English eir, Middle English eire, Middle English er, Middle English ern (plural), Middle English erre, Middle English eyr- (in compounds), Middle English heer, Middle English hern (plural), Middle English herre, Middle English ire, Middle English nere, Middle English yre, Middle English (in compounds) 1700s ar, Middle English–1500s eere, Middle English–1500s ere, Middle English–1500s eyre, Middle English–1500s heare, Middle English–1500s here, 1500s earyn (plural), 1500s eer, 1700s ar; Sc. pre-1700 aeir, pre-1700 eair, pre-1700 eer, pre-1700 eir, pre-1700 eire, pre-1700 er, pre-1700 ere, pre-1700 eyr, pre-1700 eyre, pre-1700 heir, pre-1700 here, pre-1700 1700s– ear.

β. Old English gear- (inflected form, rare), Middle English yare, Middle English–1500s yeare, Middle English–1500s yere, 1500s year, 1500s–1600s yeere; English regional 1800s– year, 1800s– yer ((Lancashire)); U.S. regional (south Midland and southern) 1800s yea, 1800s yeare, 1800s yer, 1800s– yeah, 1800s– year, 1800s– yez (plural), 1900s– yur; Welsh English 1900s– year; N.E.D. (1891) also records a form Middle English ȝhere.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian āre, ār, Old Dutch ōra (Middle Dutch ōre, Dutch oor), Old Saxon ōra, ōre (Middle Low German ōre, ōr), Old High German ōra (Middle High German ōre, ōr, German Ohr), Old Icelandic eyra, Old Swedish öra (Swedish öra), Old Danish øre (Danish øre), Gothic ausō < the same Indo-European base as (with various different stem-formations) ancient Greek οὖς, classical Latin auris, Early Irish ó (rare and literary), Old Church Slavonic uxo, Lithuanian ausis, all in the sense ‘ear’.Form history. In Old English usually a weak neuter (ēare ); the isolated nominative singular ēara probably reflects weakening and inverted spelling of the final vowel rather than inflection as a weak masculine. (The word belongs to a small group of Germanic weak neuter nouns denoting parts of the body; compare e.g. eye n.1, heart n., wang n.1) Occasional strong neuter forms are also attested, e.g. nominative plural ēar , genitive singular ēares . Weak -n plural forms survive into late Middle English (and early modern English in late copies of material of Middle English composition). The -s plural is first attested in the late 14th cent. The β. forms show the development of a palatal on-glide (attested already in Old English). J. Wright Eng. Dial. Gram. (1905) 418 records regional pronunciations indicative of such forms from Lancashire, Oxfordshire, Sussex, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, and a pronunciation of this type is also associated with Welsh English (see quot. 1985 at sense 1aβ. ). Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (at Ear) notes that such pronunciations are frequent in the south Midland states. Notes on specific senses. With sense 7 compare Old High German ōri ear-like opening, eye of a needle (Middle High German œre , œr , ōre , ōr , German Öhr ) and Middle Low German ōse loop, handle, ring, German Öse metal ring or loop for attaching a hook or cord (15th cent.), both ultimately < the same base as the present word. Compare also early examples at eared adj.1 In sense 8 originally after classical Latin auricula auricle n. In sense 9b translating classical Latin auris , apparently denoting a projecting pin on either side of a plough for pushing the soil aside; in sense 9c immediately after French oreille in the specific sense ‘mouldboard’ (1721: see oreille n.).
I. Senses relating to the organs of hearing and auditory perception.
1. Either of the pair of organs responsible for the sense of hearing and for the maintenance of balance, located on each side of the head and typically comprising a short passage (ear canal) with an external opening surrounded (in humans and most other mammals) by a skin-covered cartilaginous flap (the pinna), leading to two cavities (middle ear or tympanum, and inner ear or labyrinth) within the temporal bone of the skull.The structure of the ear and its compartments varies in the major groups of vertebrates; most tetrapods have both a middle ear and an inner ear, although the details of these differ, but in fishes only an inner ear is present.external ear, inner ear, internal ear, middle ear: see the first element.
a. An external part of the ear in a person or animal; a pinna (pinna n.2 1b); the aperture of an ear canal.Also with distinguishing word, denoting a particular shape, appearance, or pathological state of the pinna; asylum ear, button ear, cauliflower ear, jug ears, etc.: see the first element.With uses such as those in quots. a1413, 1601, 1774 at α. , cf. burn v.1 3a, glow v.1 5, tingle v. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > ear > [noun]
earOE
listc1380
sousea1658
concha1683
auricula1691
wattle1699
listener1821
conch1831
earhole1843
tab1866
auricle1874
α.
OE tr. Wonders of East (Tiber.) §14. 192 Hi [sc. Lertices] habbað eoseles earan [L. auribus asininis] & sceapes wulle & fugles fet.
OE Wulfstan Baptism (Hatton 113) (1957) 178 Ðonne se sacerd æthrinð mid his spatle þæs mannes nose & earan.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 40 Bridel nis nawt ane i þe horses muð, ah sit sum up o þe ehnen. & geað abute þe earen.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1528 (MED) Cheken and eren al fforbete wiþ boffettes were al-so.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18836 His hare..Bi his eres skailand sumdele.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 558 Reede as the bristles of a sowes eerys.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 1022 And we shal speke of þe som what I trowe Than þow art goon to do þyne eeres glowe.
1483 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 89074) (1881) 252 A Nere, auris.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 79 Vij gentylmen of Kent sett on the pyllery..and one of eche of ther erys cut of.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxviii. ii. 297 c Moreover, is not this an opinion generally received, That when our ears do glow and tingle, some there be that in our absence doe talke of us?
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. vii. sig. H8v Hadrian sent his inferiour seruant a box on the eare, for walking but betweene two Senators.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. B The eares..are divided..in the hart, and pilous in the rat.
1733 J. Alleyne New Eng. Dispensatory ix. iv. 539 These are used to syringe the Ears with.
1774 J. Nelson Memoir (1807) 62 Some of them said, that their ears burned on their heads, to hear me speak to such a gentleman as Mr. Ingham.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Miller's Daughter (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 110 I would be the jewel That trembles at her ear.
1896 Argosy Feb. 450/1 I tell you that when you feel the air swishing past your ears as you go scooting down a grade or banging round a corner, it's positively intoxicating.
1916 H. F. Osborn Men of Old Stone Age iv. 349 All these sculptures of the mammoth have in common the indication of a very small ear.
1970 R. Davies Fifth Business v. i. 230 Good God, don't you think the way you rootle in your ear with your little finger delights the boys?
2008 A. Lister Swingers: Female Confidential 167 Her ears have been pierced many times. A row of a dozen or more studs decorates the helix and lobe.
β. OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) vii. 33 He..his fingras on his gearan [OE Corpus Cambr. earan] dyde.1853 W. G. Simms Sword & Distaff xviii. 116 He will gib we de tail and yea's.1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Year.., the ear.1891 R. P. Chope Dial. Hartland, Devonshire 122 Year (yur), the ear.1929 W. Faulkner Sound & Fury 72 I wish I was young like I use to be, I'd tear them years right off your head.1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. viii. 173 He took and galloped out in de middle of de road right in front of John's horse and laid his years back.1985 J. Edwards Talk Tidy 43 Years, Wenglish for ‘ears’.
b. The organ as a whole; (also) either of its cavities (the middle ear or inner ear) within the temporal bone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sense organ > hearing organ > [noun]
earOE
lug1507
the world > life > the body > sense organ > hearing organ > parts of hearing organ > [noun] > labyrinth
earOE
labyrinth1578
internal ear1615
inner ear1655
ear bulb1838
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) xcii. 134 Wið earena sare [?a1200 Harl. 6258B earan sare] genim þysse wyrte wos þe man mentastrum..hateþ mid strangon wine gemengced, do on þæt eare.
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 130 (MED) Wanne mine eyhnen misten, and mine heren sissen.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xviii. 113 Þe couenabil lyme is a gristilbon isette in þe ere.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 39v (MED) Apostemez of þe herez..Som beþ made in þe profounde of þe ere, some in þe superficitee, some in þe rote of þe ere.
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man vii. f. 95v First ministryng vnto the caue or laberinthe of the eare ij. arteries, which in their ingresse do mingle together.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 611 The Sounds..are carried through the contorted Meanders of the Eares to the Auditory Nerue.
1726 A. Monro Anat. Humane Bones 97 The Cavity of the Ear, called Tympanum.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued II. ii. 21 The auditory nerves are represented to us by anatomists as expanded in a reticular form at the bottom of the ear.
1848 tr. C. Matteucci Lect. Physical Phenomena Living Beings xix. 349 In fishes the ear is reduced to the internal part alone.
1892 Youth's Compan. 65 292/1 Efforts in this direction have been extremely harmful to the tympanum and delicate bones of the ears.
1921 Lancet 3 Sept. 519/2 The patients complained of a feeling of pressure in the ear, tinnitus of varying degree, autophony, and more or less impairment of hearing.
1989 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 21 Dec. 39/3 Owls..triangulate the slightly asynchronous sounds captured by huge, asymmetrical ears to locate a rustling mouse or bird.
2002 Org. Life Mar. 58/2 Early intervention in cases of ear infections can lead to a quick cure, without the need for the use of grommets in the ears.
c. Entomology. An auditory organ present in certain groups of insects, typically consisting of a tympanal membrane in the cuticle, a tracheal air chamber, and a chordotonal organ.
ΚΠ
1877 Proc. Bristol Naturalists' Soc. 2 357 Until 1875 the tympanal structure was accepted by all authorities on the subject as the true and sole insect ear.
1889 Amer. Naturalist 20 892 Müller's locust's ear he [sc. Burmeister] regarded as a vocal organ.
1944 R. Matheson Entomol. for Introd. Courses iii. 77 There are but few insects in which actual ‘ears’ or organs with taut membranes (tympana) are known to be present.
2010 R. W. Matthews & J. R. Matthews Insect Behavior (ed. 2) viii. 303 Insect ears..have arisen through a few simple modifications to existing proprioceptors and their surrounding cuticular tracheal structures.
2.
a. With reference to its function: the ear as possessing the power or faculty of hearing. Cf. eye n.1 2.
ΚΠ
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 15 Þises folces heorte is ahyrd & hig hefelice mid earum [c1200 West Saxon Gospels: Hatton earen; L. auribus] gehyrdon.
lOE Laws: Swerian (Rochester) viii. 398 Swa ic hit minum egum oferseah & minum earum oferhyrde, ðæt ðæt ic him mid sæcge.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 181 (MED) Eien lokeð and eare lusteð.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 79 Sing imin earen.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 154 Þe eȝen to zyenne; þe yearen to hyere; þe nase to ssmelle.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xi.15 He that hath eeris of heerynge, heere he.
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 28 Here he þes wordis, wiþ ere and herte.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 2058 The thinges that I herde there What a lovde and what in ere.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 27 He rowned in one of his felawes heres.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1865) I. 415 If thou putte thyne eiere to hit thou schalle here a maruellous sownde.
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Num. xi. f. xxiijv Ye haue whyned in the eares of the Lorde saynge: who shall geue vs flesh to eate?
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie ii. vi. 65 To that which was highest lift vp and most eleuate or shrillest in the eare, they gaue the name of the sharpe accent.
a1637 B. Jonson Magnetick Lady i. vii. 22 in Wks. (1640) III Hang your eares This way: and heare his praises.
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 27 To inform either of them in the ear what may be the best for them to choose.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 146 A buzzing noise of Bees their Ear alarms.
1749 T. Smollett Regicide ii. iv. 22 Shall I, alas! Supinely savage, from my Ears exclude The Cries of youthful Woe?
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. iv. 192 And his awakened ear Heard the grey Lizard's chirp.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Lancelot & Elaine 893 in Idylls of King Till the ear Wearies to hear it.
1863 Southern Confederacy (Atlanta) 9 May 1/2 You should git the strait of it from one who seed it with his eyes, and hearn it with his years.
1951 G. R. de Beer Vertebr. Zool. (ed. 2) xxxii. 341 These sound waves are reflected from solid objects and picked up by the bat's ears which, by stereophonic hearing, give the bat power of audio-location.
1958 G. Greene Our Man in Havana (1962) 145 From force of habit he had used his red telephone, the scrambler, and only strange noises resembling Japanese had reached the valet's ears.
2008 A. Davies Mine All Mine 28 With the vociferation of afternoon Manhattan thrumming in my ears, I heard Charlie say, ‘Hey, get your hands off me!’
b. With adjectives expressing the character or disposition of the person listening, as fastidious, patient, polite, sympathetic, willing ear. Also: a person who listens in this way.
ΚΠ
OE Blickling Homilies 55 Manige men beoþ þe þa word..lustlice gehyraþ, & þeah hrædlice hie forgytaþ þæt hie hwene ær ymbhygdigum earum & ingeþancum gehyrdon reccean.
OE Paris Psalter (1932) lxxxiii. 7 Gehyr min gebed, halig drihten,..mildum earum.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 3030 (MED) Ful-ofte hir wordes sche reherceth, Er sche his slepi Eres perceth.
c1425 Bk. Found. St. Bartholomew's (1923) 61 (MED) As he myghte parceyue with opyne eere.
1531 tr. E. Fox et al. Determinations Moste Famous Vniuersities vi. f. 134 We haue shewed, that holy & deuoute christian eares, do abhorre it, and can not suffre to here it spoken.
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie i. xvi. 92 Plausible to vulgar eares.
1631 R. Byfield Doctr. Sabbath Vindicated 32 This is abhorring to Christian..eares.
1694 W. Penn Brief Acct. Rise Quakers v Though that side of his understanding which lay next to the world..might sound uncouth and unfashionable to nice ears.
1703 W. Burkitt Expos. Notes New Test. Mark ix. 8 The Obedient ear honours Christ more, then..the Applauding Tongue.
1786 T. Busby Compl. Dict. Music Unmusical, an epithet applied..to whatever is not absolutely harmonious, melodious, or agreeable to a cultivated ear.
1810 A. Plumptre Resid. France I. xvii. 210 There is a certain old gentleman, whose name, we say in England, must not be pronounced in the hearing of polite ears.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 511 Things unfit for ears polite.
1938 Fortune Sept. 102/1 As an agent with twenty-six years' experience.., he commands the willing ear of Hollywood producers.
1967 Coast to Coast 1965–6 112 The older man..liked Curly because he was a good ‘ear’. Curly listened intently to Ben's tales.
1989 G. Daly Pre-Raphaelites in Love i. 5 The popular painters of the day bored him, and in Hunt he found a sympathetic ear.
2001 Indiaweekly 16 Mar. 45/5 The Sufi priest's patient ear heals them of their anxieties.
3. In singular and plural. The action or function of perception by the ears; the sense of hearing or listening. Cf. eye n.1 5b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > [noun] > faculty or sense of hearing
earOE
listc1000
heartha1325
listenc1400
audition1599
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxxvii. 316 Ða gewende eal se sang upweard.., and swa hi ufor ferdon swa mihton ða licmen læs þæs sanges gehyran, oð þæt he mid ealle heora earum ætbroden wearð.
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) i. vii. 34 Þa becom þæt to earan [L. peruenit ad aures] þæs manfullan ealdormannes þæt Albanus hæfde ðone Cristes andettere..mid him.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 35 (MED) Hie openeden hi[s] earen to luste þe defles lore.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ii. xix. 87 He temptiþ þe eres by song.
c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 256 (MED) Þogh so be þat musik þe delite, And metir is full lusty to þy ere.
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria viii. f. 95v The feat conueyans of a speche: that soundeth well to the eare.
1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course ii. f. 24 Nothing offending, or displeasing the eare.
1615 J. Stephens Satyrical Ess. 285 The winding up of a iacke is better then musicke to his eares in Lent.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) iv. viii. 364 The discursives of moral good and evil, just, unjust, which are no more perceptible to Sense than Colour is to the Ear.
1749 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 9 Dec. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1458 Most people have ears, but few have judgment.
1798 R. Southey in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 221 Perhaps you will find many of the expressions provincialisms, which are familiar to my ears.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 24 He sow'd a slander in the common ear.
1895 J. J. St. Paul Gathered by Way ii. 37 Does my ear deceive me? A shrill whistle coming over the water!
1948 A. L. Rawlings Sci. Clocks & Watches (ed. 2) v. 90 Clocks should be in beat, not only because they sound pleasant to the ear, but because they are less likely to stop.
2000 S. Connor Dumbstruck xii. 283 For later ventriloquists, the dummy would become a fixture.., funnelling the audience's attention on what they saw in front of them, and knitting together the evidence of eye and ear.
4. figurative and in extended use. Chiefly with of or the genitive. The ear regarded as an attribute of the mind, the heart, etc., or of partly personified objects.See also one's mind's ear at mind n.1 19b(b).
ΚΠ
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Oxf.) Prol. 1 Anhyld þinre heortan eare [a1225 Winteney þinre hurte eare; L. aurem cordis tui].
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. xv. 282 Þa þa he to þam ylcan lofsangum, þe he in his mode gehyrde, aþenede & gebigde his heortan eare.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. l. 10 (MED) Good is that we..Do wryte..some matiere..So that it myhte..Whan we ben dede..Beleve to the worldes eere.
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 11561 (MED) Opone þyn herte, þy gostly eres, And þenke on here byttyr teres.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 36 Wiþ þe eeris & een of his hert.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. DDDviv No persone may receyue..the counselles of the holy goste, except he haue..a spirituall eare.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. v. 34 Stop my houses eares, I meane my casements. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxiii. 126 Those that are appointed to receive the Petitions..of the People..are as it were the publique Eare.
1728 J. Addison Paraphr. Psalms xix In reason's ear they all rejoice.
1827 Christian Advocate & Jrnl. 20 July 181/4 Stop the ear of the mind to the reasonings of the serpent.
1853 F. D. Maurice Prophets & Kings Old Test. xx. 350 There was an ear in an Assyrian..people which could be opened to hear God's word.
1864 J. H. Burton Scot Abroad I. ii. 103 The illustrious Eastern conqueror, whose name fills the ear of fame.
1915 Times 30 Dec. 15 The loftiest appeals that ever rang in the ears of freedom fighting humanity.
1983 Christian Sci. Monitor 9 June 21/1 The beat of dance bands from the '20s..wafted across the waves into the ears of my mind.
2004 Living Spirit Dec. 135/1 What you say, the ear of your heart hears and stores away as part belief.
5. As a count noun or mass noun: voluntary hearing or listening; attention. See also to give ear at Phrases 2j, to have the ear of a person, to win (also gain) the ear of a person (see Phrases 2l), and to lend an ear or one's ears at lend v.2 2d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > [noun] > listening
hearkeningc1000
hearinga1225
listening13..
audiencec1405
earc1503
harking1530
exaudition1617
auscultation1634
listen1788
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > notice, observation > [noun] > attentive listening > an attentive ear
earc1503
c1503 Nutbrown Maid in R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxv Wherfore ye. that present be. I pray you geue an eare I am the knyght. I cum be nyght. as secret as I can.
1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. i. 136/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I Your request..deserueth litle consideration and lesse eare.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ouye, eare, attention, hearing.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. iii. 99 Make a swift returne, For I would commune with you of such things, That want no eare but yours. View more context for this quotation
1640 W. Habington Hist. Edward IV 223 The disconsolate hath no eare to which hee may expresse himselfe, and no hope left for remedy.
1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. in H. Dircks Life 2nd Marquis Worcester (1865) 384 Never refused me his ear to any reasonable motion.
1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome Alex. i. 463 They..would..sell his Ear, pretending Interest where they had none.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 251 These have an ear for his paternal call, Who makes some rich for the supply of all.
1802 Monthly Rev. Aug. 363 That he might the more completely engross the ear of the sovereign.
1866 J. T. Trowbridge South lvii. 406 He gets the ear of the administration.
1912 J. Conrad Some Reminisc. iii. 99 A deputation to that effect visited X, who treated them to excellent wines, but absolutely refused his ear to their remonstrances.
1995 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. 15 June a10 Gingrich gave his ear to District of Columbia officials Wednesday and promised to listen to ordinary citizens before Congress undertakes major changes in the nation's capital.
6. A facility with or aptitude for analysing or appreciating the sound of music. More fully musical ear (see musical adj. Compounds 1), ear for music. Also in extended use in relation to verse, prose, etc.Frequently with modifying adjective, esp. in good ear. Cf. tin ear n. (b) at tin n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > type or quality of hearing > [noun] > discriminating
ear1526
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. HHHiiii In the psalmody..haue a good eare.
1606 W. Hubbock Great Brittaines Resurrection sig. F4 As the cunning eye in pictures, the skillfull eare in musicke discerneth more then the vulgar sort.
1666 S. Pepys Diary 30 Oct. (1972) VII. 348 Singing with my wife, who hath lately begun to learn..though her ear is not good.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 313. ⁋9 I have no Ear for Musick.
1779 W. Cowper Let. 31 Oct. (1979) I. 307 I am convinced..that he has no Ear for Poetical Numbers.
1789 W. Belsham Ess. I. xii. 220 The ear distinguishes verse from prose.
1837 B. Disraeli Venetia I. 226 A fine ear for music.
1895 ‘M. Twain’ in N. Amer. Rev. July 11 This is [James Fenimore] Cooper. He was not a word-musician. His ear was satisfied with the approximate word.
1939 D. Thomas Let. June (1987) 382 My criticism of your critical suggestion in this instance is that your ‘ear’ is deaf to the logic of my poem.
1989 E. Pyle in D. Nichols Ernie's Amer. (1990) Introd. p. xxxiii Here was a likeable reporter with an uncannily good ear for American idiom.
1996 Music Week 27 Apr. 12/2 Its 14 tracks mixing McNabb's wit, pop sensibility, ear for a tune and penchant for ballsy guitar in equal measure.
2004 Computer Music (Beginners Special) Apr. 50/2 Combined with the right samples and an ear for music, you can quickly knock up your own polished songs in practically no time at all.
II. Something resembling the external ear in function, appearance, shape, or relative position.
7.
a. The handle of a pitcher, pot, drinking vessel, etc.
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the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > with two or more handles > handle
earOE
OE [implied in: Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 62 Cratera, earede fæt. (at eared adj.1)].
a1425 (a1399) Forme of Cury (BL Add.) 185 in C. B. Hieatt & S. Butler Curye on Inglysch (1985) 140 Make þerof eerys to pottes, & colour it.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 141 Ere of a vesselle, ansa.
c1480 (a1400) St. Lawrence l. 747 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 423 A gret pot with erys twa.
1522 Accts. St. John's Hosp., Canterbury (Canterbury Cathedral Archives: CCA-U13/4) For a new bayle & an ere..of the bukket.
1534 in E. Peacock Eng. Church Furnit. (1866) 211 Item an other basen of latten withowt erys weynge vli.
?1600 H. Plat Delightes for Ladies sig. C12v A deepe bottomed bason..with two eares of Iron, to hang it.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 27 His empty Can, with Ears half worn away, Was hung on high.
1711 E. Freke Diary 18 Oct. in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1912) 18 207 1 Large Barrell Tubb, with 2 ears. 1 Broad Couling Keeler with 2 ears.
1754 E. Burt Lett. N. Scotl. I. viii. 188 It is often drank..out of a Cap..a wooden Dish, with two Ears or Handles.
1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 61 Each bottle had a curling ear.
1820 R. Wilbraham Attempt Gloss. Cheshire 63 To Stouk or Stowk, to put ears or handles to such vessels as require them.
1909 B. Laufer Chinese Pottery Han Dynasty iv. 122 The ears are not essential to the type of the tou, as there are also bronze tou which lack them.
1961 B. Watson tr. Ssu-Ma Ch'ien's Rec. Grand Historian ii. xxviii. 16 Once a pheasant came and climbed up on the ear of the emperor's sacrificial cauldron and crowed.
1998 B. White Quite Year for Plums (1999) ix. 76 A porcelain potty with two ears.
b. The looping part at the top of a bell, by which it is hung. Cf. canon n.1 14.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > bell > [noun] > other parts
yokeOE
stirrup1341
cod1379
bell-string1464
frame1474
stock1474
ear1484
poop1507
bell-wheel1529
skirt1555
guarder1583
imp1595
tab1607
jennet1615
pluck1637
bell-rope1638
cagea1640
cannon1668
stilt1672
canon1688
crown1688
sound-bow1688
belfry1753
furniture1756
sounding bow1756
earlet1833
brima1849
busk-board1851
headstock1851
sally hole1851
slider1871
mushroom head1872
sally beam1872
pit1874
tolling-lever1874
sally-pin1879
sally-pulley1901
sally-wheel1901
1484–6 Churchwardens' Accts. Wigtoft, Lincs. in J. Nichols Illustr. Antient Times Eng. (1797) 80 Paide..for makyng..an ere to ye for bell.
1754 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. II. 1317/1 The ear of the bell requires a separate work, which is done during the drying of the several incrustations of the cement.
1872 H. T. Ellacombe Bells of Church i. 4 The various parts of a bell may be described as..the ear or cannon on its top..by which it is hung.
2009 New Yorker 27 Apr. 23/3 Russian bells are given names like Swan (for producing a swanlike cry), Bear (for rumbling or unwieldiness), or Sheep (for a rattling or uneven tone). They ring with their ‘tongues’, hang by their ‘ears’, and have shoulders, waists, crowns, and skirts.
†8. The ear-shaped appendage of either of the two atria (upper chambers) of the heart; (also) either of the two atria; = auricle n. 3. Cf. deaf-ear n. (a) at deaf adj. Compounds 2. Obsolete.
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the world > life > the body > vascular system > heart > [noun] > auricle
eara1398
deaf-ear1615
earlet1659
auricle1664
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxxvi. 239 In aiþir wombe of þe herte is a gobet ischape as an ere wiþoute, and þese twey gobettis ben iclepid þe eren [L. auricule] of þe herte.
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) f. 17v (MED) Two smale eeres [L. due auricule] by þe whiche þe prep[ar]ate ayer arrayed of þe longes goþ into þe herte and comeþ oute.
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Hj The hert hath two eares..yt serue for to let the ayre in and out.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. True Hist. Siege Ostend 196 The bullet had peirced through his heart, and had stayed in the left eare.
1634 T. Johnson tr. A. Paré Chirurg. Wks. iv. xxx. 145 These eares differ in quantity, for the right is far more capacious than the left.
1694 W. Salmon tr. Y. van Diemerbroeck Anat. Human Bodies (new ed.) i. 323/2 The Little Ears are as it were Appendixes to the Heart.
1788 J. Clark Treat. Prevention Dis. Horses 218 It [sc. the heart] has four cavities, two of which are called auricles or ears, and the other two ventricles.
1839 N. Webster Man. Useful Stud. v. 63 The heart has two auricles, or little ears, which receive the blood from two veins.
9.
†a. A loop of metal attached to the front of the beam of a plough to which the harness is attached and by which the angle of ploughing is regulated. Recorded earliest in plough-ear n. at plough n.1 Compounds 2. Obsolete.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > part to which draught attached
plough shackle?c1475
plough-ear1510
cock?1523
ear?1523
muzzle1534
cutwith1565
tractory1607
plough-cock1652
plough-head1733
hake1787
bridle1790
drail1811
gallows1840
plough clevis1846
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iii Some plowes haue a bende of yron tryanglewyse, set there as the plough eare shuld be that hath thre nyckes on the farthersyde.
1721 W. Coe Diary 18 Dec. in East Anglian Sept. (1907) 143 My man Henry Rickard was at plough wth a Colt not 3 years old & the other Baron Colt not 5, & they broke away from him & rann away wth the plough... The plough ear was broke so they left the plough behind 'em.
1784 ‘An Essex Farmer’ Let. on Constr. & Use of Improved Foot Plough 21 There are two rows of corresponding holes in the horizontal plates, that the ear may be altered by small degrees, by means of an iron pin which sits into them, and which keeps the ear in the direction that has been given to it.
b. In ancient Rome: either of two paired parts of a plough (only in translations of Virgil). Oxf. Latin Dict. (1968) defines this sense of auris as ‘(app[arently]) a projecting pin on either side of a plough for pushing the soil aside’. Some translators render the word as ‘mouldboard’ (cf. sense 9c).
ΚΠ
1589 A. Fleming tr. Virgil Georgiks i. 7 in A. Fleming tr. Virgil Bucoliks A plowbeame eight foot long from th' end, two ears or handles [L. binae aures].
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 57 A fastned Beam prepare, On either side the Head produce an Ear [L. binae aures] . View more context for this quotation
1767 T. Neville tr. Virgil Georgics i. 11 To this eight feet in length, a pole; two ears [L. binae aures], A share-beam next with double back appears.
1865 J. B. Rose tr. Virgil Georgics i. 9 Eight feet of draught-beam furnished with two ears.
2011 P. J. Thibodeau tr. Virgil Georgics in Playing the Farmer iii. 98 Two ears and a share beam are attached to its back on both sides.
c. The part of a plough which turns over the soil; a mouldboard. Chiefly with reference to agriculture in France and other countries where the word for ‘ear’ also has the sense ‘mouldboard’.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > mouldboard
reesteOE
shield-boardc1325
mouldbred1343
mouldboard1394
fenbrede?1523
breastboard1652
breastplate1652
earthboard1652
furrow-board1652
wrest1652
throwboard1725
ear1759
plat1765
mould-iron1807
turn-furrow1810
mould1859
moulding board1864
1759 J. Mills tr. H. L. Duhamel du Monceau Pract. Treat. Husbandry iv. iii. 454 The iron safeguard.., which is used in this country in order to fasten the ear [Fr. l'oreille] to the share of the plough.
1765 tr. Monsieur Jeanneret in Foreign Ess. Agric. & Arts x. 70 The ear of the plough turns with ease the earth which is cut by the share and coulter.
1868 H. Crichton tr. F. Mistral Mirelle viii. 276 Each swain his furrow straight began to plot; Behind Le Marran followed as he pressed In earth the plough's ears, beam, shafts, or what not.
1947 Trans. & Papers (Inst. Brit. Geographers) No. 12. 21 A heavy iron ploughshare pulled by two, four or six oxen..made a deep furrow and brought up the deeper, richer soil to be laid down by the ears of the plough or its mould-board.
2000 G. Pinton & M. Diehl Giambattista Vico's Universal Right 577 The ear of the plough, earthboard by which the furrow is widened.
10. Either of two flaps of material attached to the side of a cap or hat, which come down over the ears and often may be tied together beneath the chin; an ear flap.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > parts of headgear > [noun] > part which covers ears
lug1495
oreillet1548
ear1579
earpiece1653
ear lappet1670
ear flap1823
ear guard1842
ear tab1855
ear muff1859
1579 J. Frampton tr. B. de Escalante Disc. Nauigation xii. f. 33 Hee sendeth them to the Court, that they may receyue the signes of men of lawe, which are certaine Coyfes with eares [Sp. birretes con orejas], and also hattes, and broade and long gyrdles.
1651 H. More Second Lash of Alazonomastix To Rdr. 15 I wear no sattin ears, nor silk cap with as many seams as there are streaks in the back of a lute.
1700 W. Congreve Way of World v. i. 71 Go hang out an old Frisoneer-gorget,..A Glass Necklace with the Beads broken, and a Quilted Night-cap with one Ear.
1753 D. Henry Hist. Descr. Tower of London 61 He put himself into the Habit of a Doctor of Divinity, with a little Band, a long false Beard, a Cap with Ears, and all those other Formalities of Garb belonging to that Degree.
c1830 M. M. Sherwood Houlston Tracts III. lxxvii. 8 The ears of her mob cap untied for the benefit of the air.
1871 Argosy Aug. 130 Some of them looked fearfully ill still and had not put up the ears of their caps or turned down their muffling coat and cloak collars... Cloaks were tolerably common in those days, and travelling caps had ears to them.
1960 C. W. Cunnington et al. Dict. Eng. Costume 76/1 Fanchon, 1830's on. A small kerchief for the head, the term being chiefly used for the lace trimming falling about the ears of a day cap or outdoor bonnet.
2004 J. B. Hall Total Light Process 10 The mad farmer drives a Scout, wears galoshes and a cap with ears that tie under his chin.
11. A projection or attachment on the side or edge of an object (as a piece of machinery, a tool, etc.), typically flattened in shape and featuring a hole. Cf. lug n.2 3b.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > parts of tools generally > [noun] > other parts
neck?a1425
buttc1425
cheek1487
wing1577
face1601
ear1678
wood1683
strig1703
thumb-piece1760
jaws1789
crown1796
lug1833
sprig1835
point angle1869
bulb1885
nosepiece1983
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. i. 2 At the ear of the upper Bellows-board is fastned a Rope.
1798 Edinb. Mag. May 355/1 The iron head..is seven inches long, and has on each side two pieces of iron called ears.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 271 Ears, in artillery the lugs or ear-shaped rings fashioned on the larger bombs or mortar-shells for their convenient handling with shell-hooks.
1876 J. Hiles Catech. Organ (1878) iv. 27 Flue-pipes [of an organ]..are often furnished with ears, that is, pieces of metal or wood projecting from each side of the mouth.
1963 K. O. Parker & R. A. Stone in M. A. Zipkin & R. N. Edwards Power Syst. for Space Flight 510 The basic shield configuration assumed with the three fin radiator is a cone shadowing the payload..with ‘ears’ that shadow the radiator fins.
2008 B. E. Bosserman et al. in G. M. Jones et al. Pumping Station Design (ed. 3) iv. 27 An alternate detail for ductile iron pipe is to bolt an ‘ear’..to the pipe flange.
12. Botany and Zoology. An outgrowth on a plant or animal, typically at the side; spec. a wing-like projection towards the hinge of the shell of a bivalve mollusc. Cf. auricle n. 2. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [noun] > mollusc or shell-fish > parts of mollusc
ungulaa1382
mantlea1475
trunk1661
diaphragm1665
lid1681
operculum1681
ear1688
beard1697
corslet1753
scar1793
opercle1808
pleura1826
pallium1834
byssus1835
cephalic ganglia1835–6
opercule1836
lingual ribbon1839
tube1839
cloak1842
test1842
collar1847
testa1847
rachis1851
uncinus1851
land-shell1853
mantle cavity1853
mesopodium1853
propodium1853
radula1853
malacology1854
gill comb1861
pallial cavity1862
tongue-tootha1877
mesopode1877
odontophore1877
pallial chamber1877
shell-gland1877
rasp1879
protopodium1880
ctenidium1883
osphradium1883
shell-sac1883
tooth-ribbon1883
megalaesthete1885
rachidian1900
scungille1953
tentacle-sheath-
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 85/1 The Ears, or fines, are such leaves as grow on the foot stalk, either naturally small, or through extravagancy above natures use.
1755 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 32/1 Ear, is the flat part that in some bivalves spreads from the Cardo, or joint, as in a scalop.
1854 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca ii. 258 Shell hyaline, posterior ears obsolete, anterior prominent.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. III. 183 Corolla with two ears at the base, which remain and crown the fruit.
1984 Times 30 June 9/2 The ‘ears’ are tufts of feathers on the sides of the head that have nothing to do with the birds' sense of hearing.
1993 G. J. Vermeij Nat. Hist. Shells iv. 80 (caption) The scallop spends much of its time attached to rocks by a byssus, which is located in a notch in front of the anterior ear or auricle on the right valve.
†13. In plural and singular. The part of a pump that supports the bolt of the handle. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Cheville de potence de pompe, a..bolt which fastens the brake to the cheeks or ears of the pump.
1771 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1 339 The model is three pumps erect, in a triangular position; in the center is a crank erect in a step, and steddied by a neck in a frame, from the ears of the pumps.
1819 Repository of Arts 1 Apr. 67 The break-iron a b is made open from the ear of the pump to the end.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 271 Ears of a pump, the support of the bolt for the handle or break.
†14. Nautical. A connecting piece of timber on the fore part of a boat's hull (see quot. 1850). Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1831 T. O'Scanlan Diccionario Marítimo Español Ears of boats, curvas exteriores del branque de los botes.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 116 Ears of boats, the knee-pieces at the fore-part on the outside, at the height of the gunwale.
15. colloquial (chiefly Journalism). Usually in plural. A small box or enclosed space in the top corner of the front page of a newspaper, often one of a pair appearing on either side of the title and typically containing weather forecasts, advertisements, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > other sections or columns
Poets' Corner1733
situations wanted1809
situations vacant1819
feuilleton1845
roman feuilleton1845
home page1860
personal1860
society page1883
City page1893
women's page1893
book page1898
ear1901
film guide1918
op-ed1931
masthead1934
magazine section1941
write-in1947
listings1971
1901 J. Ralph War's Brighter Side vii. 99 We dropped those little frames on either side of the title of the paper which journalists call ‘ears’.
1947 Paris (Texas) News 14 Apr. 1/3 In newspaper jargon the ‘ears’ of a newspaper are the spaces left on the top of the front page on each side of the title.
1971 F. K. Baskette & J. Z. Scissors Art of Editing xv. 317 In contemporary design, ears have been eliminated because they have become distracting devices that call attention to themselves.
1993 Times 31 May 15/1 An exceptional ‘ear’ at the top of the front page announced, ‘Everest Climbed’.
2006 P. T. Board Remembering Lee County, Florida Pref. 7 For years, the ears on the Fort Myers News-Press read, ‘Where Winter Spends the Summer’, and I always thought that was very appropriate.
16. slang (chiefly U.S.). In plural. Citizens' Band radio; (also) equipment or an antenna used for this, or a vehicle equipped with it. Cf. to have one's ears on at Phrases 2k.
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society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > communicate by radio [verb (intransitive)] > listen to or operate Citizens' Band radio
ear1975
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > radio equipment > [noun] > radio set > two-way > types of > Citizens' Band
CB1959
ear1975
1975 L. Dills CB Slanguage Dict. 28 Ears, CB radio.
1976 Kiplinger's Personal Finance Jan. 41/2 An increasing number of police cruisers are being equipped with CB's (‘Smokey with ears’) to monitor the emergency channel.
1976 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 27 Apr. (advt.) CB spoken here..Ears, a vehicle with a CB antenna.
1976 R. L. Perkowski & L. P. Stral Joy of CB xi. 127 With antennas as high as 60 feet above the ground, however, there is the possibility that your ears may obstruct air navigation if you are close to an airport.
1977 New Scientist 30 June 764 Because of overcrowding, many a CB enthusiast (called an ‘apple’) is strapping an illegal linear amplifier (‘boots’) on to his transceiver (‘ears’) which is limited by the Federal Communications Commission (‘Big Daddy’ in the US) to an output power of no more than five watts.
1992 J. Stern & M. Stern Encycl. Pop Culture 88/1 By listening to drivers up ahead along the road, you could almost always make yourself aware of..‘Tijuana taxis’ (local police cars), and even ‘Smokeys with ears’ (police using their own CB radios) early enough to avoid apprehension.

Phrases

P1. Phrases relating to the physical organ.
a. about a person's ears: (with reference to a shower of blows or missiles, a burning or falling building, etc.) down upon or around a person; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1575 T. Churchyard 1st Pt. Chippes f. G.vii For wheles and all, faules downe about their eares From rotten frames.
a1599 R. Rollock Lect. Epist. Paul (1603) 74 Oh but the iudgement comes with such a rattle about the eares of the lowne, that hee cannot get once space to say, God is mercifull!
1654 T. Warren Vnbeleevers 24 All Sodome was..flaming about the ears of the Inhabitants.
1702 G. Farquhar Inconstant ii. 22 I'll rattle down your China about your ears.
1762 J. Mitchell Female Pilgrim 234 He must be repeating his grievances amongst some of the domesticks; which occasioned him trouble enough, and pulled an old house about his ears.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIV x. 120 I have brought this world about my ears, and eke The other; that's to say, the Clergy.
1883 Harper's Mag. June 135/2 He..an hour or so ago had seemed so full of repressed strength that he could have pulled his house down about his ears.
1930 ‘H. Z. Smith’ Not so Quiet (1988) x. 202 My world is toppling about my ears.
1982 F. McGuinness Factory Girls iii, in Plays: 1 (1996) 37 You are pulling this place down about your ears and about our ears because you know fuck all about what you're working with, let alone who you're working with.
2001 E. Colfer Artemis Fowl v. 80 He'd built the system from scratch and if anyone else even tried to boot it up, a hidden virus would bring it crashing about their pointy ears.
b. Originally U.S. behind the ears.
(a) dry behind the ears: adult, experienced, mature. Also occasionally dry back of the ears. Usually in (effectively) negative contexts. [After German (noch nicht) trocken hinter den Ohren (1712 or earlier): see note at wet behind the ears at Phrases 1b(b).]
ΚΠ
1802 Port Folio 21 Aug. 257/3 The French call such inexperienced uneducated boys, green creoles, (des créoles verts), as in German we usually say of such a person, ‘he is not yet dry behind the ears’.
1871 Chicago Med. Jrnl. 28 112 Until parents will cease allowing their children to be men and women before they lose their bread-and-butter odor, or get fairly dry behind the ears, there seems to be no help for it.
1904 J. London Daughter of Snows xiii. 140 You staked that claim before he was dry behind the ears.
1914 Dial. Notes 4 105 Dry back of the ears, mature;—of persons.
1939 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath ix. 109 When you bastards get dry behin' the ears, you'll maybe learn to let an ol' fella sleep.
1943 D. Whitehead in Combat Reporter (2006) 126 O'Donovan, their conducting officer, isn't dry back of the ears.
1995 New Yorker 25 Dec. 81/2 I keep thinking you've been hanging out for long enough—that you ought to be dry behind the ears by now.
(b) wet behind the ears: naive, inexperienced, immature. [After German (noch) nass hinter den Ohren (1642 or earlier), (noch) feucht hinter den Ohren (1842 or earlier), apparently with allusion to the idea that the area behind the ears is the last part of a newborn's body to become dry after birth.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > unfamiliarity with, inexperience > [adjective]
unwistc1374
unknowna1393
ignorantc1475
imperfect1508
rawa1513
unskilfula1547
imperite?1550
illiterate1556
strange1561
unacquainted1565
green-headed1569
unacquainted1581
unacquaint1587
unfledged1603
inexperienced1626
guiltless1667
inexperient1670
unconversanta1674
unversed1675
uninitiated1678
a stranger to1697
uninitiate1801
inconversant1802
lay1821
griffish1836
wet behind the ears1851
neophytic1856
griffinish1860
experienceless1875
neophytish1897
wet-eared1967
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > unaccustomedness or state of disuse > [adjective] > not used or accustomed > not used or experienced
youngOE
inexpertc1450
unfleshed1542
green1548
fresha1557
callow1580
pen-feathered1598
puisne1598
puny1602
unfledgeda1616
inexperienced1626
pin-feathered1641
sucking1648
infledgeda1661
inexperient1670
fledgeless1769
wet behind the ears1851
1851 Boston Daily Atlas 25 Mar. Such a louse student, who is still wet behind his ears, thinks because he is received in the castle, he is some great person!
1921 E. O'Neill Straw i. ii. 36 Is it the like of a young jackass like you that's still wet behind the ears to be tellin' me I'm drunk?
1931 J. Brophy & E. Partridge Songs & Slang Brit. Soldier: 1914–1918 (ed. 3) 375 Wet behind the ears, a term of reproach imputing ignorance or youth.
1962 J. F. Straker Coil of Rope vii. 71 You're still wet behind the ears, darling. It's time you grew up.
1968 W. J. Burley Three Toed Pussy iv. 68 I am not an abortionist but neither am I wet behind the ears. I've been around.
2004 S. Quigley Run for Home (2005) xi. 168 Kerry pet, yer act so grown up at times that I forget yer still wet behind the ears.
c. by the ears (also ear).
†(a) to lead by the ears: to exercise complete control over, esp. through artful speech. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
?1510 Treatyse Galaunt (de Worde) sig. A.iii Seynge the people thus ledde by the ere.
a1516 H. Medwall Godely Interlude Fulgens sig. e.iii It wolde be com them well..not you to tary For theyr laysyr and abyde them here As it were one that were ledde by the eare.
1688 P. Pett Happy Future State of Eng. 46 Lest it might be thought that with Oratorical Harangues that he or they led Men by the Ears, as an implicit faith is said to lead them by the Nose.
1702 J. Drake Some Necessary Considerations relating to Elections 9 The crafty Priest, that had the best knack of leading the Mob by the Ears.
1884 M. Hickson Ireland in 17th Cent. I. Introd. 9 The chiefs..led the ignorant credulous masses by the ears after them.
(b) to have (also hold, take) by the ears: to keep or obtain a secure hold upon (a person or animal). Now chiefly figurative: to hold the attention of with captivating or incessant talk.Recorded earliest in to have or hold a wolf by the ears at wolf n. 10c.
ΚΠ
1555 R. Sherry Treat. Figures Gram. & Rhetorike f. 26 Paroemia, a saying much vsed..as, I holde the woulfe by the eares.
1573 G. Gascoigne tr. Ariosto Supposes i. iv, in Hundreth Sundrie Flowres 12 You cracke halter, if I catche you by the eares, I shall make you answere me directly.
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. Ev Eager to catch him, as a dogge to take a beare by the eares in Parrish-garden.
1631 T. Heywood Fair Maid of West: 1st Pt. iv. 44 Shall I strike that Captaine? say the word, Ile have him by the eares.
1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 84 Which Countryes,..the Spaniard holds as a woulfe by the eare, fearing they should run away.
1726 H. Wanley Diary 16 Apr. (1966) II. 412 Mr. Noel came..and held me by the Ears, with his ratteling talk.
1781 W. Cowper Let. 5 Mar. (1979) I. 455 One would wish at first setting out to catch the public by the Ear and hold them by it as fast as possible.
1866 Galaxy 15 Aug. 737 Mr. Illersly..came back to the Island Lodge, and had Brompton Corners by the ears.
1924 Amer. Mercury Sept. 32/1 McAdoo, it was universally conceded, had the convention by the ear.
1941 J. Rice Diary 23 July in Sand in my Shoes (2006) 154 I pretty well had them by the ears and could get what I wanted out of them.
1949 D. Thomas Let. 11 Oct. (1987) 718 I am tangled in hack-work. Depression has me by the ears.
1991 New Yorker 11 Mar. 34/2 She who took tedium by the ears: non-forthcoming pickles, defiant-stretched-out lettuce, sauce-gooed particles.
(c) to pull (also drag, draw, pluck, etc.) by the ears: to convey or extract violently and roughly (sometimes literally by the ears). to pull a person by the ear [perhaps partly after classical Latin aurem vellere] : figurative to compel a person's attention (obsolete).
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1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments 961/2 Bertram was the fyrste that pulled me by the eare, and that fyrste brought me from that common errour of the Romishe churche.
1570 T. Norton tr. A. Nowell Catechisme f. 3 v Such is our dulnesse and forgetfulnesse, that we must oft be taught and put in remembrance,..and as it were pulled by the eare [L. quasi auribus vellicandi].
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 154v To make them fyerce and curst, you must plucke them by the eares [L. auribus vellendi].
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie sig. I3v For Poesie, must not be drawne by the eares, it must bee, gently led.
1590 ‘Pasquil’ First Pt. Pasquils Apol. sig. Cv They have all vowed to hale thee out of thy trenches by the head and eares.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. xxvi. 592 They would go home to their very houses, and pluck them out by the eares [L. et in publicum omnes vi extracturos esse].
1636 T. Heywood Loves Maistresse iv. i Venus will sole mee by the eares for this.
1671 S. Skinner & T. Henshaw Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ at Sowl To Sowl one by the ears, vox agro Linc. usitatissima (i.e.) aures summâ vi vellere.
1707 J. Stevens tr. F. de Quevedo Comical Wks. (1709) 393 Then Jove said [to Olympus], Thou Vbiquitary God, shoot thy self into the World, and in a trice drag Fortune hither by the Ears.
1840 G. Darley Thomas à Becket iii. vii. 75 Go you, pull him out by the ears.
1925 S. Lewis Martin Arrowsmith vi. 63 She's an old terror. If she found a child like you wandering around here she'd drag you out by the ear.
1991 S. Keen Fire in Belly v. xiv. 221 I pulled up the offending youngsters by the ears.
(d) to be (also come, go, fall) by the ears: to be at variance, fall out; to fight. Frequently with together. Now rare.Earliest in to fall together by the ears at fall v. Phrasal verbs 1.
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1531 Bp. W. Barlow Dyaloge Lutheran Faccyons sig. i.3v Then was it a wonder to se what murmuracyon, grudge, and rumour of sedycyon was amonge the people, not without lykelyhed of fallynge togyther by the eares & insurreccyon agaynste theyr prynce.
1539 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes f. xxij The apes..skambled and went together by ye eares for the nuttes.
1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lvi. 18 I thought they wold all haue gone by thears theare.
1579 L. Tomson tr. J. Calvin Serm. Epist. S. Paule to Timothie & Titus 280/1 When we be together by the eares like dogs and cattes.
1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia v. sig. D7v By and by Thei'le be by the eares, vie stabs, exchange disgraces.
1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Replie to Libel i. 32 We must needes fall by the eares together.
1653 in E. Nicholas Nicholas Papers (1892) II. 6 The other took his advertisement so ill that they were like to have fallen by the ears yester.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World i. 73 They would go together by the Ears, about who should go with you.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. iv. xviii. 353 In one place, we fight for a sword; in another, for a horse..in short, we are all by the ears together.
1793 G. Morris in J. Sparks Life G. Morris (1832) II. 282 I saw clearly that France and England would at length get by the ears.
1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker (1837) 1st Ser. xviii. 180 Take any two men that are by the ears, they opinionate all they hear of each other..and misconstrue every act.
1927 M. de la Roche Jalna xx. 266 Imagine the entire family by the ears because of a kid's music lessons!
(e) to set by the ears: to put at variance. Formerly frequently with together.
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society > society and the community > dissent > become at variance with [verb (transitive)] > cause (dissension) > set (people) at variance
to-bear971
to cast (in) a bone1498
to set (or fall) at variancec1522
to set by the ears?1566
distract1597
to set outa1610
jarc1615
dissentiate1628
vary1795
?1566 W. P. tr. C. S. Curio Pasquine in Traunce 64 Doe they use Bartolus, and Baldus, and such other spill causes to set men togither by the eares?
1645 T. Juxon Jrnl. 18 June (1999) (modernized text) 80 Besides, 'twould have set all together by the'ears at homes [sic] and brought the parliament trouble enough.
1650 A. B. Mutatus Polemo 8 Set the Cavaleer and Presbyter together by the ears.
1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 1 When hard words..Set Folks together by the ears, And made them fight.
1702 D. Defoe Reformation of Manners i. 306 To set the Town together by the Ears.
1787 B. Franklin Let. 19 Apr. in T. Jefferson Papers (1955) XI. 301 Perpetually endeavouring to set us together by the Ears about Taxes.
1868 M. E. Grant Duff Polit. Surv. 40 Does it [Turkey] fancy that it will obtain security for itself by setting Greek and Bulgarian by the ears?
1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xiii. 94 John Walter..set all the printers in London by the ears with his whim about logographic printing.
1953 M. Irwin Elizabeth & Prince of Spain 34 Parsons' wives, pert and prim, fat and slim, messing up their husband's work, meddling with the parish, setting it all by the ears.
2003 A. Groves Ellie Pride xxxix. 508 Run off with one of the Connolly lads, she has, and set the whole town by the ears, no mistake!
d. from ear to ear: right across the face, head, or neck, as if from one ear to the other. Esp. in to grin (also) smile from ear to ear: to smile broadly.
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1597 W. Langham Garden of Health 442 Anoint the forehead and temples therewith from eare to eare.
1619 P. Hannay Happy Husband sig. E8v Thrill-open is his Nose, His Mouth from eare to eare.
1681 ‘Philopatris’ Plot in Dream x. 275 Leaving him weltring in his Blood, having cut his Throat from Ear to Ear.
1767 Public Advertiser 10 Jan. 2/2 Whenever he reads his long Dissertations upon concave Pavements, he grins from Ear to Ear.
1833 New-Eng. Mag. 5 357/1 He..slashed the animal's gullet from ear to ear.
1871 J. Morley J. de Maistre in Crit. Misc. 138 That frightful rictus running from ear to ear.
1878 G. F. Maclear Celts (1879) viii. 123 They..were tonsured from ear to ear.
1923 Humorist 3 Nov. 352/3 ‘I'd like to slash his throat from ear to ear, I would.’ And he began stropping a razor with all his might.
1976 E. B. Potter Nimitz iii. 39 Halsey, a charming, genial, approachable fellow, was smiling from ear to ear.
2001 4 × 4 Dec. 104/2 The Ford rally star..would have been grinning from ear-to-ear when he climbed out of the stylish suburban 4x4.
†e. U.S. colloquial. to get up (also go off, hop off) on one's ear: to rouse or bestir oneself. Obsolete.
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1871 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 4 May They..said that I was lightning, when I got up on my ear.
1873 Newton Kansan 10 Apr. 2/1 The editor has hopped off on his ear.
1889 J. S. Farmer Americanisms (at cited word) To get up or go off on one's ear, to bestir oneself; to rouse oneself to a great effort.
f. one would give one's ears: one would be ready to make any sacrifice (to be able to do something, or for something).
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1696 P. A. Motteux Love's a Jest v. 71 How soon care comes upon a Man that's Married! he's no sooner noos'd but he'd give his Ears to get off.
1736 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 39/2 The constant Manner of expressing the most ardent Desire People can have for any thing, by saying, they would give their Ears for it.
1804 T. G. Fessenden Orig. Poems 159 Jove tells his peers He'd give his ears For such an hour as this is.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxxix. 395 There are people in London who would give their ears to be you.
1883 W. E. Norris No New Thing I. vii. 176 Many a man would give his ears to be allowed to call two such charming young ladies by their Christian names.
1908 K. Grahame Wind in Willows v. 109 ‘There's a banquet for you!’ observed the Rat, as he arranged the table. ‘I know some animals who would give their ears to be sitting down to supper with us to-night!’
1998 Tempo No. 204. 30/1 It is the kind of book that every contemporary composer would give his ears to have in existence about oneself.
†g. to hang one's ears: to be cowed, discouraged. Obsolete.
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1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. iii. viii. 562 I let it passe, and hanging downe mine eares [Fr. baissant ioyeusement les oreilles], remit my selfe to a better houre to right my selfe.
1678 Earl of Murray in O. Airy Lauderdale Papers (1885) III. lxxxiv. 147 They begine now to hange ther ears..A gentilman tould me..he saw the E. Kincarden & dyvers others..all out of humor.
1701 Dissertator in Burlesque 47 The greater Working Engineers Of Mischief, All shall hang their Ears.
1764 T. Bridges Homer Travestie II. vii. 97 I broke all th' Arcadian spears, And made the scoundrels hang their ears.
h. to have (or keep) one's ear(s) to the ground and variants: (figurative) to be on the alert regarding rumours or the trend of public opinion.
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1861 M. D. Conway Rejected Stone 32 Slavery, with the keen sense of the savage, lays its ear to the ground, and hears in those ballots falling for Abraham Lincoln the fatal tramp of many centuries, the mustering for liberty of the ages that take no step backward.
1899 Christian Reg. (Boston) 19 Jan. 62/1 The President is described as keeping his ear to the ground to learn what people wish.
1920 National Rev. Apr. 142 On the eve of a Presidential Election campaign, when practical politicians have their ears to the ground.
1955 G. Greene Quiet Amer. iii. i. 190 What's the gossip of the market, Tom? You fellows certainly do keep your ears to the ground.
1966 ‘H. Calvin’ Italian Gadget ix. 146 Honestly, the way I've had my ear to the ground, I simply don't see it.
1975 J. Symons Three Pipe Probl. xviii. 180 Willie was circuitous as ever in talking about it, but as O'Malley liked to say, he kept his ear to the ground, and what he heard about J. O. Dryne was not reassuring.
2004 G. Woodward I'll go to Bed at Noon i. 10 She fixed him up with numerous blind dates, always keeping an ear to the ground for marriage-hungry spinsters.
†i. of one ear: (of wine; also occasionally of ale) of good quality. Obsolete. [After French à une oreille (1542 in Middle French in the passage translated in quot. 1653), perhaps with reference to an appreciative tilting of the head to one side.]
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1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. v. 29 The fine white wine..is of one eare [Fr. à une aureille], well wrought, and of good wooll.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. xliv. 205 Take care to hearken and hear the Word only with one Ear. This, cry'd Friar Ihon, is Wine of one Ear [Fr. vin à vne oreille], as Frenchmen call it.
1766 T. Amory Life John Buncle II. viii. 260 I dined at Caterric on a hot pigeon-pye just drawn, and ale of one ear, that is, admirable.
1824 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. (ed. 2) I. 451 Vino di un oreja, ‘Wine of one ear!’ is good wine; for at bad, shaking our heads, both our ears are visible; but at good, the Spaniard, by a natural gesticulation lowering one side, shows a single ear.
j. slang. on (also upon) one's ear: drunk.
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the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
1903 Bulletin (Sydney) 20 Aug. 16/2 The grog wasn't too good..and, consequently, in a very short time the whole male population was ‘upon its ear’.
1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xiv. 180 It's these cheap 'n' easy shickers rollin' round on their ear what brings discredit on beer.
1921 K. S. Prichard Black Opal ii. 17 The old chap has ‘got on his ear’ in Sydney.
1932 J. van Druten Behold, We Live i. 17 I shall be on my little ear if I don't get some food soon.
1977 U. Curtiss In Cold Pursuit (1978) xiii. 160 Jenny looks as though a Shirley Temple would set her on her ear.
1998 A. O'Hanlon Talk of Town (1999) ii. i. 86 Mary-Rose had been on her ear. Her landlady heard her being sick into the toilet at seven in the morning and became very concerned.
k. U.S. colloquial. (up) on one's ear: indignant. Now rare.
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1870 Chronicle (Univ. Michigan) 26 Mar. 196/1 Be gentle and kind, and believe what you hear, And swear at the man who ‘gets up on his ear’.
1871 L. H. Bagg Four Years at Yale 44 A man somewhat offended or indignant is said to be on his ear.
1881 A. A. Hayes New Colorado v. 77 Wouldn't that just get some of his high-toned relations up on their ear?
1882 W. D. Howells Mod. Instance II. xxix. 144 ‘I can cut your acquaintance fast enough,..if you're really on your ear!’ ‘I'm on my ear,’ said Ricker.
1907 M. C. Harris Tents of Wickedness iii. iv. 255 I only hope Paul Fairfax won't read it and get on his ear!
1920 M. Mitchell Let. 4 Mar. in Lett. to Allen Edee (1985) 67 I will have to write her, for I haven't sent her a line and she is probably on her ear wondering whether I've eloped, shot myself or left my happy home by other violent means.
1933 Boys' Life May 44/3 Old Gait was on his ear, and there was no telling when his office door might open again to emit another storm.
l. out on one's ear: dismissed, ejected ignominiously.
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1887 Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Oct. 9/4 A patent-medicine man bearded the O'Kane in his den the other day to complain that he had been libelled. He was thrown out ‘on his ear’.
1914 R. D. Paine Wall Between ix. 186 And where am I to look for him without risk of being shot or hurled out on my ear?
1951 M. Kennedy Lucy Carmichael vi. ii. 294 If I pipe down and give no trouble I'm safe. If not, I'll be out on my ear.
1953 J. Trench Docken Dead ix. 129 I'm going to throw the sleuth out on his ear.
2005 C. Cleave Incendiary 6 Whenever I could squeeze a fiver out of the shopping money I used to stash it under the carpet just in case my husband blew everything one day and they chucked us out on our ear.
m. over (one's, the) ears: (so as to be) completely immersed; (figurative) (so as to be) deeply immersed or involved in something. over head and ears: see head n.1 Phrases 3e(a).
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1570 Homelie against Disobedience iv. sig. G.ii Those that are ouer the eares in debt.
1614 T. Wilson Comm. Epist. S. Paul to Romanes xiii. 1104 For whereas diuers there be, who go ouer shooes and Bootes, yea and ouer eares too in debt.
1819 W. T. Moncrieff Wanted a Wife v. 64 I'm over my ears in marriages, surprises, and good fortune.
1900 J. Buchan Half-Hearted viii. 94 I thought you would be over your ears in work.
1937 Rotarian Oct. 8/1 No, I can't go to a show tonight. I'm over my ears in work.
1957 E. Voegelin Let. 20 Mar. in Coll. Wks. (2007) X. 311 Just now I am over my ears in the preparation of the next two volumes for the printer.
1992 A. Hannay tr. S. Kierkegaard Either/Or i. vii. 266 I am over my ears in love, I have got what swimmers call a ducking; no wonder I am a little confused.
n. to stand (also turn, set) a person on his or her ear: to cause a person to fall flat, to knock someone down; (figurative) to greatly impress a person, to ‘knock someone out’. to turn (also set) something on its ear: to put something (esp. an established system, subject, or idea) into a state of confusion or upheaval, to overturn, overset; = to turn (also stand) (something) on its head at head n.1 Phrases 6c.
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1888 Sun (N.Y.) 17 Apr. 1/2 Muldoon lost no time. He caught Carkeek about the waist and stood him on his ear. Then he twirled him around and threw his 200 pounds of bone and muscle upon him.
1896 C. Leader in E. Redmond Lyra Cyclus 139 It [sc. the bike] skinned the shins of Lady Clare, And stood her on her ear.
1907 Washington Post 10 Feb. 3/5 Time and again he had been stood on his ear,..and beaten to a pulp.., and finished the mill with a knockout.
1933 Pop. Mech. Nov. 669/1 Years ago the scientific world was temporarily set on its ear by the discovery of numerous inscribed baked-clay caskets in Michigan.
1954 L. Armstrong Satchmo viii. 120 The first time I heard Sidney Bechet play that clarinet he stood me on my ear.
1993 Atlantic Dec. 139/2 With that book Carter established his reputation for turning sacrosanct propositions on their ear.
2005 A. Etches-Johnson in S. E. Cleyle & L. M. McGillis Last One Out turn off Lights iii. 31 The blogging phenomenon has turned the world of journalism on its ear.
o. up to one's (also the) ears: (so as to be) completely immersed; (figurative) (so as to be) deeply immersed or involved in something. Cf. up to the (also one's) eyes at eye n.1 Phrases 1g.
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a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. i. sig. A.iij If any woman smyle or cast on hym an eye, Up is he to the harde eares in loue.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. i. 117 The mailed Mars shal on his altars sit Vp to the eares in bloud. View more context for this quotation
1655 S. Fisher Christianismus Redivivus 224 I am me thinks become a fool at this time in falling, before I was aware, so up to the ears in contest about a few testimonies of the fathers.
1714 E. Budgell tr. Theophrastus Moral Characters vi. 23 He is always up to the Ears in Law,..some of his Suits he is forced to stand to, and works himself out of others by Perjury.
1764 J. Hall-Stevenson Pastoral Puke 25 This leading Tory, Practised in every Tory Wile, Up to the Ears in Love with Glory.
1840 W. Irving Early Experiences of Ralph Ringwood in Knickerbocker Sept. 263 I..was up to my ears in law.
1889 W. B. Yeats Let. Sept. (1954) 136 I am up to the ears in Irish novelists.
1920 Boston Sunday Globe 25 July 12/6 I was up to the ears in ‘Pete the Outlaw’ when my father came into the room. ‘What is that book?’ says he.
1966 Listener 6 Jan. 15/1 He..is up to his ears in work.
2008 H. J. Ruff How to Prosper during Coming Bad Years Pref. p. xvii Up to your ears in debt? Broke? Here I can really identify. I grew up broke.
†p. to be worth one's ears: to be of any worth. Obsolete.
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c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. Prol. l. 75 (MED) Weore þe Bisschop I-blesset and worþ boþe his Eres, Heo scholde not beo so hardi to deceyue so þe peple.
1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle iv. ii. sig. D.iiiv But he shall be brought to the plight I am in, Master Bayly I trow, and he be worth his eares.
1655 G. Hall Triumphs of Rome v. 56 Neither is he worth his eares that hath not learn'd to distinguish betwixt Jejunium Jejuni, and Jejunium Jejunantis.
q. to bend a person's ear: see bend v. Additions. to bend an ear: see bend v. Additions. to prick (up) one's ears: see prick v. 27. to shake one's ears: see shake v. 6c.
P2. Phrases relating to hearing.
a. all ear: (as if) composed entirely of the ear or of hearing; eagerly attentive (now rare); hence to be all ears: to be eagerly or closely attentive.
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1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. iv. iii. sig. Ccc.vii v/1 But he is all eye, because he wholy seeth: He is all eare [L. totus auris], because he wholy heareth.
1609 J. Davies Holy Roode sig. H4 While loue doth lacke the oyle that makes it flame, It is all Eare, or Eie, to heare, or see Who can bewraie, or where abides the same.
1613 J. Boys Expos. Festivall Epist. & Gospels 192 If wee were not as deafe as the stubborne Adder, we would wish our selues all eare, to heare the tidings of great ioy to all people.
1616 B. Jonson Speeches at Prince Henries Barriers 974 in Wks. I Thus much I prophesy Of him and his. All eares your selues apply.
1637 J. Milton Comus 19 I was all eare, And took in strains that might create a soule Vnder the ribs of Death.
1699 tr. J. de La Bruyère Characters 63 I gaze, I look fixtly on 'em; They speak, I listen, I am all Ears.
1786 S. Henley tr. W. Beckford Arabian Tale 154 He was all ear to her charming voice.
1835 R. M. Bird Hawks of Hawk-hollow I. v. 61 Come, begin; I am all ears—that is, metaphorically speaking; though a viler metaphor, to come from men of rational imagination, could not have been invented.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate II. iv. 100 I am all ears.
1872 Harper's New Monthly Mag. Sept. 567/2 He at length said, ‘I am Mr. Poe.’ I was ‘all ear’, of course, and sincerely interested.
1906 C. Thieme tr. E. Stilgebauer Love's Inferno ii. v. 107 ‘Well, philosopher?’ ‘If you call me that, Berkersburg….’ ‘Well, I am all ear.’
1949 D. Sinclair Secret Riders Farm ii. 18 ‘Well,’ rejoined Mike, ‘give us the “griff”..we're all ears.’
1982 F. McGuinness Factory Girls iii, in Plays: 1 (1996) 32 Vera Speak to all of us or none of us. Rosemary We're all ears.
2005 M. Lewycka Short Hist. Tractors in Ukrainian xxix. 295 ‘Mum, I want to talk to you.’ Her voice is serious... ‘OK. I'm all ears.’
b. at first ear: †(a) on the first hearing (obsolete); (b) with the naked ear, not by way of recorded media or broadcasting; cf. at first hand at first hand n. 1 (rare).
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1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. v. 17 A third cause of common Errors is..a believing at first eare what is delivered by others. View more context for this quotation
1822 J. F. M. Dovaston Dove xxxii. 97 That the Greek and Latin Measures..can never successfully become English, must be obvious to any Scholar at first ear.
1930 Gramophone Mar. 454 in R. Smith Louis Vierne (1999) ii. xv. 507 I have heard it sound much better at first ear. Probably the microphone cannot yet bring out some of its best qualities.
1951 Musical Times 92 269/2 I have only partly heard them: that is, by radio, never ‘at first ear’.
c. to be fulfilled in a person's ears: (of a prophecy) to come about within the hearing of or so as to be heard by a person. Now archaic. [Originally after post-classical Latin hodie impleta est haec scriptura in auribus vestris (Luke 4:21), itself after Hellenistic Greek σήμερον πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν. The construction ‘in a person's ears’ is ultimately after biblical Hebrew bĕ 'ozĕnēy, lit. ‘in the ears’ + genitive or possessive pronoun (Deuteronomy 5:1, 2 Samuel 3:19), via Hellenistic Greek ἐν (τοῖς) ὠσὶν τινος (Septuagint in these passages, and also in Baruch 1:3).]
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OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke iv. 21 Quia hodie impleta est haec scribtura in auribus uestris : þætte to dæg gefylled wæs ðios gewritt in earum iurum.]
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke iv. 21 This scripture is fulfillid in ȝoure eeris [L. in auribus vestris].
a1571 J. Jewel Viewe Seditious Bul (1582) 109 Now is this Scripture fulfilled in our eares. Now see we ye daies wherof Christ warned his disciples so earnestly.
1660 J. Nelme England's Royal Stone 5 However it was, the words we have cull'd out of the Psalm for the subject of this present discourse, are this day again fulfilled in our ears.
1693 S. Snowden Deo Ecclesiæ & Conscienti ergo Pref. p. iv It is, saith he, such a doctrine, that if there be variety in Human Affairs.., every one of us all may have need of it. Behold this day are these words fulfilled in our Ears.
1837 J. Q. Adams Oration Inhabitants Newburyport 60 That day was that scripture fulfilled in their ears. They had heard him.
1957 W. C. van Unnik in New Test. Stud. 3 254 But you need not fear that the word of St James iii 10 will be fulfilled in your ears.
d. to believe one's ears: to credit that one can have heard rightly (chiefly with negative expressed or implied). Cf. to believe one's (own) eyes at eye n.1 Phrases 2b.
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1547 W. Baldwin Treat. Morall Phylos. iii. sig. P.viiiv What euer it chaunce the of any to heare, Thyne eye not consenting, beleue not thyne eare.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xxiv. f. ccv They did neither perfectly beleue theyr owne iyes, nor theyr eares, nor theyr handes.
1624 S. Jerome Irelands Iubilee Pref. 2 He now being more incredulous then that Didymus, which will not beleeve his eare, in that which is vox populi, without the sight of his owne eye.
1699 G. Farquhar Love & Bottle i. 5 You may believe your ears; 'Tis I be gad.
1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man i. 14 Good gracious, can I believe my eyes or my ears!
1807 C. Lamb Tales from Shakespear I. 200 Lear at first could not believe his eyes or ears, nor that it was his daughter who spoke so unkindly.
a1885 ‘H. Conway’ Living or Dead (1886) I. viii. 162 He..blamed my partner, who could scarcely believe his ears.
1930 C. Beaton Diary 5 Apr. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) i. 11 Since my friends in New York had told me how unmalicious I was, I could now hardly believe my ears.
1959 P. H. Johnson Unspeakable Skipton (1961) 57 A peal of laughter so pure, so uninhibited, so boyish and so joyful that Daniel could not believe his ears.
2004 D. King Pornographer Diaries xviii. 223 I couldn't believe my ears, here was WPC Kensington, who only last week had me in cuffs, offering to give me money to take pictures of her rhubarb.
e. by ear.
(a) Without the aid of written music. Frequently in to play something by ear.
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1658 J. Playford Breif Introd. Skill Musick (new ed.) ii. 78 To learn to play by rote or ear without book.
1672 M. Locke Observ. Ess. Advancem. Mus. 14 To assist those who learn by Ear only.
1759 Mod. Part Universal Hist. VIII. xi. viii. 240 Music is no better understood at Siam that astronomy: they use no notes; and compose, as well as sing, by ear.
1762 T. Sheridan Course Lect. Elocution 192 Some..may learn a few tunes by ear, but the generality will produce nothing but discord, like those who touch the keys of an harpsicord at random.
1845 E. Holmes Life Mozart 26 A lady asked him if he could accompany by ear an Italian Cavatina..[he] accompanied it with the bass without the least embarrassment.
1873 L. Troubridge Life amongst Troubridges (1966) 7 She plays the piano beautifully and can play anything by ear.
1959 I. Gershwin Lyrics on Several Occasions 5 Soon other London bands were playing it more or less correctly by ear, since the published song hadn't been released there.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 39 From childhood I could pick up a melody by ear.
1999 BBC Music Mag. Apr. 49/1 His father is a butler by profession and both parents play the piano (father by ear, mother from music).
2007 Hoosier Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 18 Feb. (Herald-Times ed.) a4/1 Tunes not transcribed into sheet music and learned by ear.
(b) Aurally; without the aid of written materials; without visual assistance.
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c1690 in J. Maidment Bk. Sc. Pasquils (1868) 185 His mother's tongue learn'd him his father's law; Lyke prentice taught the trade by ear, but book, In seaven years petship e'er he wrote or spoke.
1733 L. Theobald Wks. Shakespeare I. Pref. p. xxxviii Many Pieces were taken down in Short-hand, and imperfectly copied by Ear, from a Representation.
1780 E. Malone Suppl. Shakespeare's Plays II. App. 727 Many of the corruptions appear to have arisen from an illiterate transcriber having written the speeches by ear from an inaccurate reciter.
1858 Atlantic Monthly Mar. 545/2 I made it a rule, when I did not know how to spell some unpronounceable word, to huddle a number of consonants together in most admired disorder, and I was then usually nearer correctness than if I had orthographized by ear.
1922 S. G. Starling Electr. vii. 95 The dots and dashes may be recognized by the operator by ear, and the necessity of watching the instrument is avoided.
1956 A. Ginsberg Let. 18 May (2008) 134 Pound..works basically by ear anyway.
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio xi. 195 The relative [sound] levels are judged by ear.
1990 Independent on Sunday 11 Feb. (Review Suppl.) 20/1 The boy's extreme linguistic precocity; he could construe by ear.
2010 Vanity Fair May 68/1 I know a lot of the warblers by ear.
(c) figurative. By instinct or improvisation according to results and circumstances, rather than according to rules or a plan. Esp. in to play it by ear.
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the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > caution > be cautious or take care [verb (intransitive)] > proceed with caution
to make it wisec1405
to feel (out) one's waya1450
to beat the bush1526
to beat about the bush1572
callc1650
to call canny1814
go-easy1860
to plough around1888
pussyfoot1902
to play it by ear1922
1844 R. W. Emerson Ess. 2nd Ser. iii. 66 I knew an amiable and accomplished person who undertook a practical reform, yet I was never able to find in him the enterprise of love he took in hand. He adopted it by ear and by the understanding, from the books he had been reading.
1922 N. Amer. Rev. Sept. 335 Jefferson played by ear not only in fiddling and in statesmanship but in his supreme accomplishment of architecture.
1931 N.Y. Herald Tribune 18 Sept. 17/2 The newspaper industry, which, except for its dealings with..members of the labor unions, is run pretty much by ear.
1961 L. Gribble Wantons die Hard xiii. 161 ‘I'm playing this by ear,’ he grunted once when the American queried the devious route he was following.
1961 A. Smith East-Enders xi. 183 ‘What happens then?’ ‘I don't know... We're playing it by ear at the moment.’
1991 Atlantic Jan. 70/2 They have agreed that they will spend the morning at the pueblo and then drive to the D.H. Lawrence ranch; the afternoon they will ‘play by ear’.
2003 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 9 Feb. xiii. 5/2 Like the engines they work on, these kids are generations evolved from the days of the shade-tree mechanic who often played it by ear.
†f. to cast aside one's ear: to listen casually.
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a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iii. l. 4805 Of happ as he caste his ere aside, He of too porteris the counsail did espie.
g. to close (also †dit, shut, †tine) one's ears (occasionally ear): to refuse to listen. Cf. to open one's ears at open v. 3c.See also to stop one's ears at stop v. 8a, to turn a deaf ear at deaf adj. 2.
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OE Vercelli Homilies (1992) x. 200 Þonn[e] hie gehyrdon þine bec rædan & þin godspel secgan.., hy symle hiera earan dytton [Corpus Cambr. 421 fordyttan] & hit gehyran noldon.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 49 (MED) Þe mon þe tuneð his eren..toȝeines godes laȝe and nule noht iheren þe weordes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 19452 Þa wreches..gun þair erin for to ditt.
a1500 tr. La Belle Dame sans Mercy (Cambr.) l. 332 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 92 (MED) Sone thei cane..to fayr speche lyghtly þair yeres close.
1589 R. Humpston Serm. preached at Reyfham sig. D2 The Lorde hath not shut his eares at the pitifull moane and crye of so manie widdowes and desolate Orphanes.
1660 J. Trapp Comm. Holy Script. (Prov. xxviii. 27) 190 He will shut his ears to such a mans moans in misery.
1740 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 520/1 We, like wise Ulysses, close our ear To songs which Liberty forbids to hear!
1878 E. Jenkins Haverholme 7 That to which for long humane and Christian people had shut their ears..sounded forth with an irrepressible clarion.
1959 J. Braine Vodi ii. 39 He only had to say, ‘Bloody nonsense’ or ‘Kid's stuff, Coverack’ and close his ears to Tom.
1998 S. Faulks Charlotte Gray i. i. 5 Gregory opened the throttle wider and closed his ears to the engine's screaming.
h. to come to (also †till) a person's ear(s): (of a fact, a report, etc.) to come to (a person's) knowledge by hearing.In Old and early Middle English also with dative of person.
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OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 196 Þa com him to earan be Agathes drohtnunge and smeade hu he mihte þæt mæden him begitan.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8138 Teȝȝre ræm, Comm fullwel till hiss ære.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 10118 (MED) It com þe kinge to ere.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 449 The tithandis..Com to the cliffurdis ere.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xxviii. f. xliij And yf this come to the rulers eares, we wyll pease him, and make you safe.
1587 R. Greene Euphues sig. D4 If euer..their adulterous practises should come to the eares of Polumestor, a worse mishappe then death should be allotted for their ingratefull mischiefe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. v. 90 If it should come to the eare of the Court, how I haue beene transformed; and how my transformation hath beene washd, and cudgeld. View more context for this quotation
1690 T. Shadwell Amorous Bigotte iii. 26 You walkt not invisibly in the Prado, nor did you talk so softly, but your Discourses came to my Ear.
1776 H. Brooke Fool of Quality (rev. ed.) IV. 117 Some murmur of these matters may come to her ear.
1834 Figaro in London 30 Aug. 138/2 We mention this case which has come to our ears, but it is only one of at least a dozen indecent assaults constantly being committed by the gang alluded to.
1889 Cent. Mag. Aug. 543/1 From the direction of the target range the ‘stump’ of the Springfields came to our ears, showing that the soldiers were hard at their devotions.
1924 T. Bosanquet Henry James at Work v. 17 ‘Adjectives are the sugar of literature and adverbs the salt,’ was Henry James's reply to a criticism which once came to his ears.
1968 J. D. Carr Papa Là-bas iii. xx. 244 It has come to these ears that you..were sent flying from the scene.
1997 W. Dalrymple From Holy Mountain (1998) i. 5 It came to the ears of the Byzantine Emperor that the monks were in the habit of debauching the daughters of the shepherds who came to the mountain to sell milk and wool.
i. for your (also our, her, etc.) ears only: (of a spoken communication) intended to be heard by a specified person (or set of persons) only; confidential; private. Cf. for your eyes only at eye n.1 Phrases 4q.
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1851 R. E. Temple Ella, Ballet Girl vi. 71 My words are for your ears only, as your answer shall ever be a secret in my breast.
1894 G. M. Fenn White Virgin I. viii. 85 ‘For your ears only, Doctor,’ said Clive, ‘in confidence?’
1972 T. Lilley K Section xli. 229 The information is unattributable and for your ears only.
1992 J. Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! xlii. 397 Sorry, that's for Rhona to hear first. Aye, you've got it, for her ears only.
2011 T. Bennett Trouble with Polly Brown i. 1 Forgive us, sir, if we mistakenly passed on what was intended for our ears only.
j. to give ear: to listen attentively.
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?1504 S. Hawes Example of Vertu sig. cc.iiii Gyuynge god ere vnto the vteraunce.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job xxix. 21 Vnto me men gaue eare,..& with sylence they taried for my councell.
a1600 in Rev. Eng. Stud. 59 350 A good man wyll not give eare to yll.
1623 N. Ferrar Diary 1 Mar. in D. R. Ransome 17th-cent. Polit. & Financial Papers (1996) i. 41 They besought his Majestie not to give eare to any pryvate Informacions in this kinde.
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. iv. 105 On Condition that thou wilt now,..give ear to my Instructions.
1821 A. Watson Ess. Var. Subj. III. xxx. 426 Every moment he is subjectable to that peremptory call, which all are compelled to give ear to and obey.
1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles & St. James (new ed.) xxiv, in Writings I. 245 [He] gave no ear to his own geese gaggling near his barn.
1932 T. Wolfe in Scribner's Mag. 91 241/3 Miss Brill would give ear and assent from time to time by the simple interjection: ‘Uh!’
1996 F. Chappell Farewell I'm bound to leave You (1997) 211 They drew a circle of pleased elders and a changeable minnow school of curious whippets who gave ear to a few bars and then scurried off.
k. U.S. slang. to have (got) one's ears on: to be listening to or operating a radio (originally, a CB radio; cf. sense 16); (hence) to be paying attention. Also with one's ears on.
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1975 L. Dills CB Slanguage Dict. 28 Ears on, CB radio turned on.
1976 CB Mag. June 9/1 Now you can let all the ‘good buddies’ know that you've got your ears on and you're ready to modulate!
1976 Field & Stream Sept. 21 (advt.) There are millions out there with their ears on waiting to talk to you Pace to Pace.
1999 T. Grosz Wildlife Wars ix. 105 I heard the skipper say, ‘Hey, Lauri, do you have your ears on?’
2001 J. Waterman Arctic Crossing i. 34 That afternoon every radio operator and listener on Shingle Point with his or her ‘ears on’ hears that somebody got a whale.
2008 L. Simpson in K. Ramage Gun Digest 2009 203/2 Barrel length is 20 inches (everybody got their ears on?).
l. to have the ear of a person [probably after Middle French, French avoir l'oreille de (1581 in the passage translated in quot. 1586)] : to have the favourable attention of a person. Similarly to win (also gain, †take) the ear of a person: to obtain the attention of a person.
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1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 343 We may draw an excellent doctrine for all that are placed in authoritie, or that haue the eares of great men [Fr. qui ont l'oreille des grands] at commandement, that they neuer cause the wicked to be aduanced.
1656 T. Hooker Comment Christ's Last Prayer 429 He that hath intelligence dayly from such, as have the Ear of the King, sit at Counsel-Table, he in the Bosom of his Majesty.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 1. ⁋7 Mr. Kidney..has the Ear of the Greatest Politicians.
1790 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 1128/1 Folly itself can sometimes please the Fair, And, strange to think on, gain the ear of Sense.
1826 E. Irving Babylon II. vi. 97 Some messenger powerful enough to take their ear and be heard.
1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 31 Oct. 14/3 To gain the ear of the House.
1910 P. G. Wodehouse Gentleman of Leisure ii. 19 ‘You have our ear,’ said Mifflin kindly. ‘Tell me all.’
1958 Visct. Montgomery Mem. (1961) 263 They had spent those crucial years in the Middle East together. So ‘Mnori’ had Tedder's ear.
1999 Pop. Sci. Mar. 79/2 Relying heavily on psychoacoustic trickery to win your ears.
2006 Economist 16 Dec. 105/3 A group of free-market economists gained his ear, preaching privatisation.
†m. to speak (also say) in a person's ear: to whisper or speak privately to a person. Obsolete.
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OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Luke xii. 3 Quod in aurem locuti estis in cubiculis praedicabitur in tectis : þætte in eare sprecend gie woeron in cottum aboden bið on hrofum.
c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) l. 309 Aþulf sede on hire ire [Laud here, a1350 Harl. eere] So stille so hit were.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 5140 A messager, þat spak al still in his er.
1691 S. Slater Disc. Closet (or Secret) Prayer 152 Thy Father can hear thy whispers, for thou always speakest in his ear.
1793 J. Lathrop Serm. Var. Subj. I. vii. 111 He admits the humble believer near to himself; allows him to speak in his ear—to whisper the complaints and desires of his soul.
n. to tickle a person's ear(s): to gratify a person with agreeable sounds; (hence) to flatter or coax a person. Similarly to stroke a person's ear(s) (now rare).
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a1551 J. Redman Complaint of Grace (?1556) sig. H.i Thy preachers glorie in theyr tongues, and in that thei please their audience..tickling their eares with that whiche deliteth their affections with out refourminge of their condicions.
a1637 B. Jonson Timber 700 in Wks. (1640) III They would not have it run without rubs, as if that stile were more strong and manly, that stroke the eare with a kind of unevenesse.
1662 J. Denham Rump i. 11 Did I for these take pains..to stroke the Peoples ears?
1721 tr. P. Burman Oration against Stud. Humanities 45 Who can without Astonishment hear him..; one while, sweetly languishing out a doleful Period; then again tickling the Ears of his Audience, with a pleasant merry Strain.
1783 London Mag. May 221/1 They are a species of eunuchs, who, by the melodiousness of their voice, can tickle the ear.
1825 W. Scott Talisman xiii, in Tales Crusaders IV. 267 I..have more list to my bed than to have my ears tickled.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. ix. 96 An orator who tickled the ears of the people blatant for some unknown good.
1929 Rotarian Sept. 35/3 The professor could tickle our ears with choice adjectives and stir our imaginations with brilliant word pictures.
1997 New Yorker 29 Sept. 88/1 ‘Britpop’ bands have reënacted the British Invasion of the sixties, stroking conservative ears with echoes of the Beatles and the Kinks.
2001 S. Birdsell Russländer i. 35 This is bound to tickle your ear as it did mine. I was in the volost office when I overheard our favourite preacher say that he felt sorry for Tolstoy's family.
o. to bite one's ear: see bite v. Phrases 2a. to bow the ear: see bow v.1 10b. to catch the ear: see catch v. 33. to have itching ears: see itching adj. 2. to hear of both ears, not to hear of that ear: see hear v. 1b. to incline one's ear: see incline v. Phrases. to lay to one's ears: see to lay to 1 at lay v.1 Phrasal verbs. to lend an ear, to lend one's ears: see lend v.2 2d. music to one's ears: see music n. 9a. a word in a person's ear: see word n. and int. Phrases 2c.
P3. Proverbial and idiomatic phrases.
a. in (at) one ear and out (of, also at) the other: indicating that information or instructions given to a person will not be retained or make a lasting impression.
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a1300 (?a1250) Serm. (Trin. Cambr.) in Bull. Mod. Humanities Res. Assoc. (1928) 2 106 (MED) Þe harde harte of man..þat lat in godis word atte ton ere & vt atte toþir.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 5151 For all yede oute at oon ere That in that other she dide lere.
1534 G. Joye Subuersion Moris False Found. f. lix Ye sowne of their wordis were but slyper voyces smytinge ye moste slyper sense to enter yn at one eare & to go out wt many at ye tother.
1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie xxi. 125 [A sermon] goes in at the one eare and out at the other.
1629 J. Mabbe tr. C. de Fonseca Deuout Contempl. xxxii. 531 Not they who heare the Word of God, and forget it, taking it in at one eare, and letting it out at another.
1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 33 The Ambassador entring into discourse upon several Subjects, which were all too long and tedious for the Turkish Humour, they went in at one Ear and out at the t'other.
1726 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (ed. 2) xxxiii. 173 Let it go in at one ear, and out at the other; never report it again.
1776 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 89/2 But rather let what you hear pass in at one ear and out at the other, so that it may make no impression on your heart.
1820 Times 21 July 3/4 Were you bespoke at the time you had the conversation with Mr. Lane, at Windsor, which passed in at one ear and out at the other?
1862 E. C. Gaskell Let. ?16 May (1966) 923 You know things so often go in at one ear with him & out at another that it will be as well to be quite sure.
1930 ‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Ten Creeks Run v. 52 You might hear a lot that isn't true if you listen to gossip. It's best to let such things go in one ear and out the other.
1958 Flying May 50/2 I let the knowledge go in one ear and out the other—my first mistake.
2007 Independent 6 Mar. 25/3 Her comments go in one ear and out of the other.
b.
†(a) one dare not for one's ears: one dare not for fear of one's safety. Obsolete.In allusion to cutting off a person's ears as a punishment.
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1533 T. More Apologye xl. f. 219v And yet wyll neuer one of them wyllingly make hym selfe an open accuser of the party, nor dare peraduenture for hys earys.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 67 The drones do willingly contain themselues in their own celles..the younger not daring for their eares to breake into their fathers Lands.
1731 E. Bockett Annot. Grub-St. Soc. 17 Time was, he durst not for his Ears, Have run his Rig thus on his Peers.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. ii. 12 And then, what for both my ears I durst not to have done to her, she made to no scruple to seize the stolen letter.
1821 Etonian May 170/2 Fifth form..and lower boys, who dare not for their ears offend the consequential dignity of a sextile.
(b) more than (also as much as) one's ears are worth: indicating the extreme foolhardiness of a course of action. Now archaic.
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1707 tr. M. Alemán Life Guzman d’Alfarache II. ii. i. 3 Who durst say they are not Men of Honour? Is it not as much as a Man's Ears are worth?
1732 H. Baker & J. Miller tr. Molière Blunderer i. 37 in Sel. Comedies III It's a Secret which is as much as my Ears are worth, should it be discover'd.
1853 Graham's Mag. June 683/1 When I was a child, it would have been as much as my ears were worth to have spoken that way to either of my parents.
1899 J. F. Fraser Round World on Wheel xxvi. 325 It would be more than your ears are worth to call on a big mandarin in other costume than the Emperor decides to be seasonable.
1996 R. Jordan Crown of Swords xvi. 297 Forgiveness, please. lt's more than my ears are worth if I don't bring him straight away.
c. to sleep on (also †in, †upon, †with) both ears: to be free from anxiety; to continue heedless. [After classical Latin in aurem utramvis otiose ut dormias ‘you may sleep at ease on which ear you like’ (Terence Heauton Timorumenos 342). Compare Byzantine Greek ἐπ’ ἄμϕω καθεύδειν ‘to sleep on both (ears)’, and also French dormir sur les deux oreilles (1796 or earlier).]
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1550 J. Hooper Ouersight Jonas iv. f. lxxxvi Thys manne of God noted and knewe the dyspleasure of God agaynste synne: but oure Ionasses slepe quietly in both eares, and feleth not the paine of synne.
1626 W. Vaughan Golden Fleece ii. ix. 47 Shall I sleepe on both eares, as the Prouerbe saith, while these indignities range abroad vnpunished?
a1663 J. Bramhall Vindic. Himself (1672) iii. 30 I will remove this scruple out of his mind, that he may sleep securely upon both ears.
1717 J. Wise Vindic. Govt. New-Eng. Churches 58 And alas Poor hearts! They began to sleep with both Ears; that then was scarce any Enemy left to Interrupt, or Controul the Conquerors.
1822 Q. Rev. Jan. 297 They might then sleep on both ears, and live no longer upon the watch as they had hitherto done, with so much uncertainty and discomfort.
1869 Dublin Univ. Mag. Apr. 369 He would probably never hear of, much less read, the volume, and therefore Spriggs might sleep on both ears, as the French say, and the public peace suffer no interruption.
1909 W. D. Howells Seven Eng. Cities 11 The superstition that if you go in a Cunarder you can sleep on both ears is no longer so exclusive as it once was; yet the Cunarder continues an ark of safety for the timid and despairing.
1979 P. O'Brian Fortune of War iv. 114 The taxes here are almost nothing, and so long as they are paid we can sleep on both ears.
2005 Ottawa Citizen (Nexis) 24 Apr. 1 a And being a small town, I think the whole population is going to be quite relieved... Now they'll be able to sleep on both ears, as we say in French.
d. walls have ears: there may be listeners anywhere; frequently used to urge another to use discretion in what he or she says.
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1592 G. Delamothe French Alphabeth ii. 29 The walles may have some eares... Les murailles ont des aureilles.
1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes 2nd Pt. Don Quixote xlviii. 320 They say walls have eares.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 199 They say, Hedges have Eyes, and Walls have Ears.
1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf xiv, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. I. 261 But there are some jests of a nature very apt to transpire; and you ought to remember, gentlemen, that stone walls have ears.
1862 Louisville (Kentucky) Daily Jrnl. 19 Dec. 1/4 Inasmuch as the walls have ears the discussion is carried on in the most grimly secret manner.
1970 Irish Times 5 Oct. 10/7 I won't mention any names at present for obvious reasons but I warn you that the walls have ears.
1997 M. Keyes Rachel's Holiday xxxvii. 310 We weren't supposed to know about it, I heard Mum say, ‘Sssshh, walls have ears,’ and jiggle her eyebrows at us.
e. humorous. Oh my ears and whiskers!: expressing consternation (with allusion to Lewis Carroll's use: see quot. 1865).
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1865 ‘L. Carroll’ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland i. 7 Alice..was just in time to hear it [sc. the White Rabbit] say..‘Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!’
1956 M. Stewart Wildfire at Midnight iii. 33 He gave a little bark of laughter. ‘Oh my ears and whiskers!’
1963 ‘M. Erskine’ House in Belmont Square i. 20 Oh, my ears and whiskers! Why didn't you say so before?
2009 D. Bussell Holly & Silver Unicorn 27 ‘White Cat!’ Holly cried in delight. He turned round. ‘Holly! Oh, my ears and whiskers!’
f. to have something coming out of one's ears and variants: to have a substantial amount of something, esp. to have a surfeit.
ΚΠ
1939 New Yorker 15 Apr. 36/3 When you go to a beefsteak, you got to figure on eating until it comes out of your ears. Otherwise it would be bad manners.
1969 G. Cryer Now is Time for all Good Men ii. 63 Mike.... Sarah, you need a lesson in criminals. Sarah. I have lessons coming out my ears!
1987 J. Hodgins Honorary Patron (1989) iv. 292 They tell me that man's got money coming out of his ears.
2005 Z. Smith On Beauty 370 I just feel like I never stop working at the moment—I've got unmarked papers coming out of my ears.
g. fields have eyes and woods have ears: see field n.1 Phrases 9.

Compounds

C1.
a.
(a) General attributive.
ΚΠ
a1450–1509 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (A-version) (1913) l. 760 The kynges sone..Gaue Rycharde an eere cloute.
1597 W. Langham Garden of Health 312 Eare paine, drop it in with hony or oyle of Roses.
1678 J. P. tr. J. Johnstone Descr. Nature Four-footed Beasts ii. 41 Layd on the eybrows, it takes away hair. To say nothing of the squincy, and eare-diseases.
1770 H. Sandford in A. Young Framer's Tour E. Eng. I. ii. 115 His [sc. a ram's] collar broad at ear tips, 1 [feet] 4 [inches].
1853 W. R. Wilde Pract. Observ. Aural Surg. v. 228 The most usual simile given by patients in describing those ear-noises is that tidal sound perceived on holding a conch-shell to the ear.
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 9 Aug. 4/1 The tar marks, smits, and ear-slits peculiar to the sheep of each farm in the township.
1947 R. T. Peterson Field Guide Birds (rev. ed.) 189 The only yellow-bellied Warbler with both a black bib and a black ear-patch.
1997 Cathedral Music Autumn–Winter 19/1 Scales and ear-tests followed and a short passage from a psalm was given as a reading test.
2013 Church Times 4 Jan. 19/1 Stuffy old academics with brooding stares, excessive ear-hair, and a tendency to petty squabbling.
(b) Designating ornaments for the ear, esp. ones worn through a piercing in the ear.See also earring n. 1, ear hoop n. at Compounds 2, ear stud n. at Compounds 2.
ear jewel n.
ΚΠ
1628 W. Prynne Vnlouelinesse of Louelockes 30 In Viewing, Ordering, Platting, Frouncing, Poudring, and curling of these goodly Eare-iewels.
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 188 By the ponderousnesse of their eare Iewels they teare their eares to that capacitie.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World i. 137 Made the other..pull off his two Ear-Jewels also.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. xxii. 395 Rowena opened the small silver-chased casket, and perceived a carcanet, or necklace, with ear-jewels, of diamonds, which were obviously of immense value.
1921 N. Amer. Rev. Dec. 835 We find in eye-glasses, lorgnettes, opera-glasses and ear-jewels, several thousands of other things that claim the attention of her much divided mind.
2003 Sunday Star-Times (Auckland, N.Z.) (Nexis) 20 Apr. (Fashion) 11 They all went for lobe-stretching ear jewels with more twinkle than their own celebrity.
ear pendant n.
ΚΠ
1630 Note of Such Things as were stollen in Lyons (single sheet) One paire of Eare-pendants of foure hundred Crownes where there are two great Pearles.
1648 tr. J.-F. Senault Paraphr. Job 416 An Ear-pendant of gold.
1797 G. Staunton Authentic Acct. Embassy to China III. iii. 256 They likewise wear ear pendants of crystal or gold.
1882 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. I. 501 So-called ear-pendants..were also attached to the ear-rings.
1996 J. Davidson in D. C. Starzecka Maori Art & Culture i. 19 Among the most distinctive Maori ornaments in the eighteenth century were breast and ear pendants of pounamu.
(c) Designating instruments and devices used to examine, clean, or treat the ear.
ear hook n.
ΚΠ
1869 Lancet 25 Dec. 869/1 Having heard six months ago of Mr. Lister's ear-hook,..I procured one, and an opportunity for using it was had.
1929 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 202/2 The aortic tourniquet, the wire needle, the ear hook, the sinus forceps.
2010 S. Iurato & W. Arnold in M. Anniko et al. Otorhinolaryngology i. 14/2 The crusts can be removed with a small round ear hook.
ear nozzle n. now rare
ΚΠ
1874 W. H. Van Buren & E. L. Keyes Pract. Treat. Surg. Dis. Genito-urinary Organs i. iii. 60 Any syringe with an ear-nozzle will do.
1901 Year Bk. Nose, Throat & Ear 391 Leading from the central air-chamber is a tube which ends in an ear nozzle.
1968 Logan Turner's Dis. Nose, Throat, & Ear (ed. 7) xxxvi. 385 An ear nozzle is attached to the tubing coming from the douche-can.
ear-scoop n. now chiefly historical
ΚΠ
1845 Med. Examiner Apr. 203 The ordinary cerumen of the canal..may generally be brought away by means of the ordinary ear-scoop.
1966 Punch 7 Sept. 344/2 Diggers in the newly excavated Roman villa in Hampshire have found a lot of ear-scoops.
1997 J. Williams Money vi. 143/1 It was once joined to a chatelaine, from which tweezers, ear-scoop, toothpick and tongue-scraper may..have hung.
ear speculum n.
ΚΠ
1837 J. R. Bennett tr. W. Kramer Nature & Treatm. Dis. Ear ii. i. 90 Jos. Frank, however, speaks of an ear speculum [Ger. Ohrenspiegel; L. speculum auris], without describing it.
1914 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 5 Dec. 1004/1 Hydrogen peroxide must be instilled by means of an ear speculum.
1998 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 98 No. 8. 50/1 Using an ear speculum, inspect the ear canal.
ear spoon n.
ΚΠ
a1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (Arun.) (1857) 146 Par cakenole [glossed] herespon e cervele net.
1804 W. Nicholson tr. A.-F. de Fourcroy Gen. Syst. Chem. Knowl. IX. 454 The cerumen collected..with the aid of an ivory ear-spoon [Fr. cure-oreille d'ivoire]..impregnates the texture of the paper.
1921 Chambers's Jrnl. 763/2 Toilet implements as toothpick, tweezers, ear-spoon.
2014 Lippincott Man. Nursing Pract. (ed. 10) ix. 164/2 Careful use of an ear spoon to mechanically remove cerumen.
ear spud n. [spud n. 3d]
ΚΠ
1896 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 4 Jan. 47/1 There are no knives among them, but there are several cauteries of different shapes, with probes, strigils (for massage), volsellæ, catheters, ear spuds, [etc.].
1961 H. G. Armstrong Aerospace Med. v. 62/1 If wax is present it should be removed by an ear spud.
1994 M. Spaulding & P. Welch Nurturing Yesterday's Child (new ed.) 244 By the seventeenth century, decorated and sometimes jewelled cases were popular to hold delicately crafted toothpicks and earspuds.
ear syringe n.
ΚΠ
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. xi. 427/1 A Mouth or Ear Syringe; so called, because used chiefly about those parts.
1733 J. Handley Colloquia Chirurgica (ed. 4) lvi. 189 Let the young Surgeon be cautious how, or with what, he syringes an Ear; and be sure to use an Ear-Syringe.
1838 Edinb. Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 50 222 By means of an ear syringe,..he washes out the indurated wax with tepid water.
1916 Jrnl. Infectious Dis. 19 732 Gentle pressure with the left hand on the bulb of the ear syringe forces the liquor slowly from the pipet.
2002 N. Coley tr. J. Vinther Special Effects Make-up 16/1 Affix an ear syringe containing theatrical blood to the other end of the tube; most high-street chemists sell little ear syringes, well suited for this.
b. Objective with agent nouns and participles.See also ear-catching adj., ear-splitting adj. at Compounds 2.
† ear-crucifying adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1789 ‘P. Pindar’ Subj. for Painters 103 Raising such ear-crucifying noise.
1814 Old Bachelor 206 The coarse rusticity, the ear-crucifying sing-song, and the delirious raving and shrieking, which too often, degrade the pulpit.
ear-deafening adj.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iii. i. 9 The eare-deaff'ning Voyce o' th' Oracle. View more context for this quotation
1778 Caledonia 5 A narrow chasm, where burst In air sublime, with hoarse ear deaf'ning roar, Fierce torrents upon torrents rudely hurl'd.
1870 A. Griffiths Peccavi! I. iii. 78 High above all the talk rose the crashing, ear-deafening, brassy din.
1981 Voice 25 Mar. 4 All-night parties at which ear-deafening disco-music is played have been banned.
2013 Evening Standard (Nexis) 28 Mar. 33 Outside play for the children is dominated by ear-deafening interruptions every two minutes as landing aircraft pass a few hundred feet over their heads.
† ear-deafing adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1644 J. Bulwer Chirologia 8 The noise of some eare-deafing crowd.
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 276 Those huge Icy Mountains..which make such a dashing, and crashing one against another.., as if it were the very roarings of hell, or those ear-deafing Cataracts that are to bee heard, and seen in Egypt.
† ear-erecting adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 9 He chirrups brisk his ear-erecting steed.
ear-pleasing adj.
ΚΠ
1598 S. Brandon Tragicomoedi of Vertuous Octauia sig. G2 Or was this sweet eare-pleasing word, But placed on thy tongue?
1641 W. Hooke New Englands Teares Pref. sig. Aijv As for this Sermon, expect not eare-pleasing, but heart-affecting phrases in it.
1797 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 967/2 Welcome the village sports; the echoing peal; The spirit-stirring dance; th'ear-pleasing song.
1893 St. Paul (Minnesota) Daily News 24 Nov. 4/6 The Swedish-American dialect is a mellow and ear-pleasing one.
2006 Daily Tel. 4 Sept. 28/7 Ear-pleasing period insults such as ‘What are you bellywarking about?’, ‘He's cobby as a lop’ and ‘You brazen flappysket.’
ear-stunning adj.
ΚΠ
1756 Prater 7 Aug. 130 It was proclaimed again in flowing Bowls and half-pint Bumpers, amidst the ear-stunning huzzas of the jovial Company.
1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 163/2 An ear-stunning blast of the whistle.
1885 Ld. Tennyson Tiresias 11 That ear-stunning hail of Ares.
2000 G. Bear Rogue Planet (2001) i. 11 Another volley of canisters shot through the shields with an ear-stunning bellow.
c. Locative and instrumental.
ear-cropped adj.
ΚΠ
1639 T. May Julia Agrippina i. sig. A7 I boast not Patritian blood, nor in my galleries Display old ranks of nose-lesse ancestours, Or eare-cropt images.
1879 G. A. Sala in Daily Tel. 26 June Where ear-cropt Prynne and Bastwick..lay in cruel hold for daring to assert the liberty of free writing.
2001 Washington Post (Nexis) 11 Sept. c10 Such operations can cause pain and infection, and some ear-cropped dogs become very head-shy later in life.
ear-directed adj.
ΚΠ
1812 G. Colman Poet. Vagaries 103 Ear-directed, by its sound.
1981 Jrnl. Field Ornithol. 52 60 This relationship of ear-directed scratches with yawning is significant.
2012 P. Pattison in C. Pence Poetics of Amer. Song Lyrics i. 125 Both are ear-directed.
† ear-labour n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1593) i. 639 But as we pray, so wee heare, the one is a lip-labour, and the other is an eare-labour.
a1687 H. More Disc. Script. (1692) vi. 164 We take our selves to be distinguished from the wicked, reprobate brood, by outward performances of Ear-labour and Lip-labour.
1853 Musical World 6 Aug. 491/1 Listening to Liszt is ear-labour well bestowed.
d. Similative.
ear-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1792 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 2) III. p. lxv/2 Ear-shaped,..somewhat resembling a human ear.
1836 N. P. Willis Inklings of Adventure II. 84 A small ear-shaped lake..sleeps beneath his window.
1875 C. C. Blake Zoology 257 The shell is ear-shaped.
1906 Homeopathic World Sept. 415 In spring a wrinkled ear-shaped fungus of a soft, velvety, purplish brown colour appears on the bark of partly-decayed elder-twigs.
1963 L. R. Palmer Interpr. Mycenaean Greek Texts xiii. 344 The ideogram shows two ear-shaped handles.
2013 Washington Post (Nexis) 24 Apr. e2 Orecchiette, that cute ear-shaped pasta, is a perfect choice for this recipe.
C2. Also earache n., ear-drop n., earmark n., earmarked adj., ear-pick n., earring n., earshot n., ear trumpet n., earwax n., earwise adv.2, ear-witness n.
ear-biter n. (a) a person who bites the ears of other people; (b) slang a habitual borrower of money, a cadger.In quot. 1855 [apparently with allusion to such an agent chewing off an opponent's ear in a fight] : (U.S. slang) a special agent of the Post Office.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > [noun] > one who obtains or acquires > by irregular means
motha1387
sorner1449
sucker?a1513
prowler1519
miligant1568
parasite1821
dog robber1832
ear-biter1855
moocher1857
schnorrer1875
toucher1896
scunge1900
scrounger1909
mooch1914
hum1919
hummer1919
hot-stuffer1929
scrounge1937
joyrider1990
1855 J. Holbrook Ten Years among Mail Bags 27 The restoration of the ‘ear-biters’ (as they were then sometimes facetiously called).
1891 O. Dyer Gen. A. Jackson vi. 65 The eyegouger, the ear-biter, the nose-mangler was not considered blameworthy by the fighting portion of the community.
1899 Truth (Sydney) 30 Apr. 5/1 Holiday spirits and careless generosity made them soft marks for the ear-biter.
1934 Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Oct. 21/2 No..earbiters anxious to give you a moral for the ‘lars’.
1940 P. G. Wodehouse Eggs, Beans & Crumpets 19 Two things which rendered Oofy Prosser a difficult proposition for the ear-biter.
2009 M. Shulman Sell Short xi. 131 That famous investor (and ear-biter) Mike Tyson.
ear-biting n. (a) slang habitual borrowing of money, cadging; (b) literal the action of biting a person or animal's ears.
ΚΠ
1821 A. Wetmore Pedlar iii. i. 22 Op. No gouging? Boat. And no ear biting.
1822 Sporting Mag. Aug. 252/2 The dog..avoids all the flogging, the shot-belting, the ear-biting, and the kicking, which keepers and dog-breakers are too apt to give them.
1954 P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves & Feudal Spirit i. 10 It is not often that one is confronted with ear-biting on so majestic a scale, a fiver till next Wednesday being about the normal tariff.
2002 Black Belt Nov. 14/1 Professional boxing champ Mike Tyson's increased popularity after his ear-biting and other antics.
ear-bob n. now U.S. regional (chiefly southern and south Midland) a drop earring; = ear-drop n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery worn on the ear > [noun]
earringOE
earlet1610
ear-bob1648
top1703
rose drop1707
ear-drop1720
snap1748
ear hoop1779
ear stud1817
ear-plug1820
girandole1825
stud1831
stud earring1873
ear-piercing1896
sleeper1896
pierced earring1914
earclip1940
keeper1960
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. xii. 56 Her Eare-bobs of some considerable Jewels.
1751 T. Pellow Hist. Long Captivity 23 A Pair of Gold Pendants, or Ear Bobs.
1846 T. L. McKenney Mem. I. vi. 121 Finger-rings..and ear-bobs.
1869 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 He purchased a pair of ear-bobs.
1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xii. 123 Now you jest give me them ear-bobs, you pirate.
1998 B. Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible (1999) i. 15 Marriage presents of golden earbobs.
ear bone n. (a) any of the bones enclosing or forming part of the ear; spec. = ossicle n. 1a; (b) = otolith n. 1 (cf. ear stone n. (b)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > skull > parts of skull > [noun] > bones of ear
ear bone1656
1656 J. Tradescant Musæum Tradescantianum 9 A Whales..eare-bone.
1657 N. Culpeper & W. Rand tr. J. Riolan Sure Guide vi. xii. 273 Then having pulled back the vaulted roof of the Ear, that is to say, having taken off the upper part of the Os Lithoides, you shal see the three little Ear-bones [L. tria auris ossicula], viz. The Malleolus, or Mallet; the Incus, or Anvil; and the Stapes, or Stirrup.
1754 Philos. Trans. 1753 (Royal Soc.) 48 32 The rocky apophyse of the ear bone.
1877 H. A. Nicholson Anc. Life-hist. Earth (1878) xx. 324 The Red Crag contains the ear-bones of Whales..and remains of the Mastodon.
1915 A. E. Shipley & E. W. MacBride Zool. (ed. 3) 644 The evolution of the ear-bones in Mammalia.
1931 E. G. Boulenger Fishes i. 17 These ear bones or ‘otoliths’ bear concentric rings, each of which marks a year's growth, and so give a fair clue to the fish's age.
1991 Toronto Star (Nexis) 15 Oct. b1 Otosclerosis causes a new ivory-like bone to grow in the middle ear, making one of three tiny ear bones rigid. The little bones, often called the hammer, anvil and stirrup, relay sound by vibrating.
2002 Nature Conservancy Winter 53/4 To ascertain the age of a goby fish, one counts the rings around its tiny ‘ear bones’.
ear-bored adj. now rare that has the ears bored or pierced through (chiefly of a slave, with allusion to Exodus 21:6: see bore v.1 1c(a)).
ΚΠ
1624 H. Burton Censure of Simonie xv. 106 A Simonist is a perpetuall eare-boared bond-slaue to his Patron.
1658 2nd Narr. Late Parl. in Select. Harleian Misc. (1793) 433 The ear-bored slavish citizens.
1691 E. Taylor J. Behmen's Theosophick Philos. 64 Voluntary Ear-boar'd Slaves.
1766 T. Knight Serm. Important Subj. iii. 70 Christ was an ear-bored servant, and his heart was wholly in his work.
1852 E. Smith Inq. Scriptural & Anc. Servitude ii. 52 The Jubilee secured freedom to all the ‘inhabitants of the land’; in it the ear-bored servants, and bought servants, were free from their masters.
1911 Classical Jrnl. 7 60 If Apollonides was a Lydian, ear-bored or otherwise, he had attained a rather high rank in the army.
ear bow n. an ornament for a horse's ear; (also more generally) a bow decorating a person's or an animal's ear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > ornaments
shomea1310
wamplate1508
hounce1565
ear bow1795
rosette1822
phalera1886
greening1895
horse brass1911
1795 W. Felton Treat. Carriages II. 169 The Earbows, are stiff leather straps..covered with lace or taping.
1879 Rep. Paris Universal Exhib. 1878 586 M. Schuterlé..exhibits a case of pad cloths, satin fronts, ear bows and rosettes.
1977 A. S. Fraser In Memory Long vii. 193 The bridal carriage..distinguished by bows of white satin on the coachman's whip and ear-bows on the horses, was ready to move off.
2011 R. Gibson Any Man of Mine i. 15 Like all yappy dogs, it had big ear bows. Red to match its nails.
ear-brisk adj. (of a horse) that has its ears pointing forward.
ΚΠ
1696 W. Hope tr. J. de Solleysel Parfait Mareschal i. ii. 6 When a Horse in galloping or travelling, carrieth his Eares pointed forwards as much as possible, then he is said to have a bold, hardy, or Brisk Ear.]
1726 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. (ed. 3) Ear Brisk, when he carries his Ears pointed forward.
1845 S. Judd Margaret ii. viii. 325 He was an ear-brisk and high-necked critter.
2004 A. Mallinson Rumours of War (2007) iii. xxiii. 491 Hervey sat calming his trooper patiently; she was ear-brisk enough, even without the thunder of the French guns and the strange buzzing the roundshot made.
ear brush n. a small feather brush or other implement used to clean the ear.
ΚΠ
1841 E. C. Bridgman Chinese Chrestomathy 296/1 An ear-brush is made of duck's down tied together.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 769/1 Ear-brush, a toilet instrument for cleaning the ear.
1988 D. C. Schak Chinese Beggars' Den iii. 50 Beggars made small feather ear brushes, which they peddled in teashops to wealthy customers.
ear bulb n. [compare French bulbe auditif (1833 or earlier)] †(a) Anatomy the labyrinth (labyrinth n. 3a), esp. during the process of embryonic or phylogenetic development (obsolete); (b) (more fully ear bulb syringe) a hollow rubber or plastic bulb ending in or attached to a tapering tube, used esp. to deliver cleansing or medicated liquids to the ear canal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > sense organ > hearing organ > parts of hearing organ > [noun] > labyrinth
earOE
labyrinth1578
internal ear1615
inner ear1655
ear bulb1838
1838 T. W. Jones in Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. II. 529/2 The labyrinth being in the apparatus of hearing exactly what the eye-ball is in that of vision, may be distinguished by the name of ear-bulb.
1854 G. A. Mantell Medals of Creation (ed. 2) II. xiv. 574 These calcareous bodies are..more or less developed in the ear-bulb of all animals.
1880 Druggists', Chemists' & Perfumers' Glassware (Whitall, Tatum & Co.) 59/2 Ear bulb syringes.
1932 Jrnl. Pediatrics 1 101 A common soft nosed rubber ear bulb may be used to remove mucus and débris from the upper air passages as soon as the head is born.
2003 K. Taylor Holiday Decorating for Dummies (Electronic ed.) x Use the ear bulb to blow air into the egg, removing the insides.
ear-bussing adj. rare = ear-kissing adj.In quot. 1978 with direct reference to quot. 1608.
ΚΠ
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vi. 8 You haue heard of the newes..I meane the whisperd ones, for there are yet but eare-bussing [1623 ear-kissing] arguments. View more context for this quotation
1978 ELH 45 191 The ear-bussing argument that Curran provides Edmund with in II.i, and which Edmund immediately uses to his advantage with Edgar.
ear canal n. (also external ear canal) the passage that extends from the external opening of the ear to the eardrum; the external auditory meatus.
ΚΠ
1859 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1858 Notices & Abstr. 123 The external ear-canal is long and sinuous in the Ornithorhynchus.
1916 Good Health Sept. 487/2 There is no better general rule than the familiar one which advises one to ‘put nothing smaller into the ear canal than the point of the elbow’.
2010 Your Cat Feb. 54/2 You should generally be able to examine your cat's ears when he is comfortable on your lap or beside you, gently folding back the ear flap..to reveal the ear canal.
ear candle n. Alternative Medicine a cylinder or cone of waxed cloth used for ear candling.
ΚΠ
1992 Evening Standard 30 Nov. 6/5 Ear candles, handed down by America's Hopi Indians, proved a major attraction at the Festival Of Tales From The Earth.
2004 Nat. Health Nov. 83/3 You could also use ear candles to gently remove the softened wax.
2008 B. Goldacre Bad Sci. i. 7 Does the ear candle remove earwax from your ears?
ear candling n. Alternative Medicine the practice of inserting the tapered end of a cone or cylinder of waxed cloth into the ear and lighting the other end, in the belief that earwax and other impurities are drawn out of the ear canal by the heat and suction.
ΚΠ
1993 San Francisco Chron. 18 Feb. b4/5 How about the ancient Chinese technique of ‘ear candling’?
2002 Edmonton Sun (Electronic ed.) 10 Feb. (Lifestyle section) Head to Toe Skin Care offers a wide range of services: manicures, pedicures..reflexology, ear candling, eyelash tinting, [etc.].
2009 Church Times 8 May 17/4 Perhaps my problems will respond to..Tanya's skill in ‘Hopi ear-candling’.
ear candy n. colloquial (chiefly U.S.) music which has an instant and direct appeal, but is not felt to have any lasting impact or significance; cf. eye candy n. at eye n.1 Compounds 4, arm candy n. at arm n.1 Compounds.
ΚΠ
1977 H. Reddy (title of record) Ear candy.
1984 Time 27 Feb. 96 Synthesizers are enjoying a particular vogue..because, in the words of one composer-arranger, ‘they fulfill pop music's never ending quest for fresh ear candy.’
2000 Guardian 8 Dec. (Friday Review section) 24/6 While the promise isn't quite fulfilled..it makes for pleasant ear candy.
2009 Wire Jan. 35/2 I didn't get to hear too much amazing music in 2008. Lots of ear candy but very shortlived.
ear cap n. any of various kinds of cap or cover for the ear of a person or animal; spec. one of a pair of coverings for the ears of a horse.
ΚΠ
1818 National Advocate (N.Y.) 6 Aug. I do oiled hat covers, aprons and ear caps.
1826 York Herald 8 July The gentleman was on the point of taking his seat, when he perceived the ear caps had not been put on the horse.
1923 Humorist 25 Aug. 109/2 Some of these [patients] are advised to wear sound proof ear caps whilst the infection lasts.
1963 Times 4 May 6/4 They will admire the earcaps knitted to protect the horses from flies.
1993 S. Stewart Ramlin Rose iii. 15 She learned me to crosher [= crochet]... She learned me to make edgins..'orses earcaps, the lot.
2014 C. B. Rose Archaeol. Greek & Rom. Troy iii. 93 Even when some of the women are veiled, the ear caps are shown bulging beneath the drapery.
ear-catching adj. (esp. of music) that draws the attention of the listener; striking or pleasant to hear; cf. eye-catching adj.
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1834 Caledonian Mercury 22 Sept. A mere ear-catching melody can be made effective even although executed by an indifferent vocalist.
1840 G. Darley in Wks. of Beaumont & Fletcher I. Introd. p. xxix Fletcher's..ear-catching language.
1962 Guardian Dec. 4/4 Tippett's second opera, ‘King Priam’..full of ear-catching musical ideas.
2006 fRoots Mar. 67/1 As well as playing fiddle, keyboards and flute, Anna sings with an emotive and ear-catching voice.
ear chair n. an armchair or easy chair having side pieces fixed near the top of the back.
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1879 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 8 Apr. 528/2 A pair of ear chairs, arranged side by side.
1888 Murray's Mag. Oct. 556 One of those ‘ear’ chairs, devised by our forefathers to keep off draughts.
1930 Times 25 Mar. 31/7 ‘Derbyshire’ and Grandfather ‘Ear’ Chairs.
2012 Sunday Times (Perth, Austral.) (Nexis) 16 Sept. 39 A central staircase is surrounded by funky furniture, including bright pink ‘ear chairs’ that when facing each other use the natural acoustics to ensure a private conversation.
ear chamber n. the cavity of the inner ear or middle ear; also in extended use.
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1846 R. Owen Lect. Compar. Anat. Vertebr. Animals i. viii. 207 In the dry-skull the ear-chamber appears as a large lateral compartment of the cranial cavity.
1893 T. R. R. Stebbing Hist. Crustacea xiii. 196 The crustacean has only to burrow with its head in the sand, and the required particles will easily find their way into the ear-chamber.
1915 A. E. Barr Three Score & Ten i. 12 Memories of the musical charms of Rossini, Donizetti, Balfe, and Sullivan haunt my ear chambers.
2012 R. S. Parker Concussive Brain Trauma (ed. 2) ii. 29 They found blood in the ear chamber.
earclip n. an earring, esp. one that clips on.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery worn on the ear > [noun]
earringOE
earlet1610
ear-bob1648
top1703
rose drop1707
ear-drop1720
snap1748
ear hoop1779
ear stud1817
ear-plug1820
girandole1825
stud1831
stud earring1873
ear-piercing1896
sleeper1896
pierced earring1914
earclip1940
keeper1960
1940 Sci. News-Let. 38 22/1 There were also smaller gold plaques, gold cuffs and anklets, ear clips, bells, and beads.
1945 A. Selwyn Retail Jeweller's Handbk. viii. 100 To the diamond mounters must be credited the idea of a new ornament, the ear-clip (not same as clip-on earring); this lies over the lobe and follows the ear up for a short way.
1958 Times 15 Dec. 11/6 Citrine, diamond and 18 ct. gold Earclips.
2004 Daily Tel. 18 Nov. 5/1 Another top lot was a pair of ruby and diamond earclips..in which she was often photographed.
ear conch n. the part of the pinna or (in a bird, esp. an owl) the head surrounding the ear opening; (also) the entire pinna; cf. concha n. 4a.
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1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VI. 71 The Horned Owls..whose ear conch extends in a half circle from the beak toward the summit of the head.
1875 C. C. Blake Zoology 86 There are no earconches, lips, teeth, epiglottis..nor scrotum.
1908 Biol. Bull. 15 170 The superfluous water and plaster was wiped out of the ear conch.
2008 C. A. Long Wild Mammals Wisconsin 379/1 The ear conch is shorter and wider then those in the American marten.
† ear-confession n. Obsolete auricular confession.
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society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > [noun] > auricular
shrift of mouthc1175
ear-shrift1528
ear-confession1531
auricular confession?1542
1531 W. Tyndale Answere Mores Dialoge f. cvi To confirme his preachynge of eare confession & pardons with like pedelery.
1549 E. Allen tr. L. Juda Paraphr. Reuelacion S. John f. 37, in M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II The articles of auricular and eare confession, of purgatorye.
1645 F. Cornwell King Jesus is Beleevers Prince, Priest, & Law-giver 5 What need these private and extraordinary remissions to be brought into the Church, by eare confession, by meritorious deeds, and by Popes pardons?
1724 Magna Britannia III. 435 The Bishop asked him what he thought of Ear-Confession.
ear cornet n. now historical a very small ear trumpet worn within the pinna of the ear.
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1837 H. Mayo Philos. Living iv. 200 The best instrument for conversation with a single person is the ear-trumpet with an elastic tube; for society, the ear-cornets recently introduced are very convenient and useful.
1899 C. Truax Mech. Surg. xxix. 798 The Ear Cornets..are among the smallest of hearing instruments.
1996 H. Schwartz in P. Kirkham Gendered Object iv. 50 Tiny ear cornets that fit within the auricle and had a tinier tube leading into the auditory canal.
ear-cough n. coughing elicited by irritation or manipulation of the ear canal; (in full ear-cough reflex) the reflex responsible for such coughing, which involves a small branch of the vagus nerve; an instance of this.
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1839 S. Dickson Fallacies of Faculty ii. 85 Gentlemen, did you ever hear of Brain-cough, or Ear-cough, or Eye-cough?
1877 C. H. Burnett Ear 326 Ear-cough was known to medical men a long time ago.
1994 Brain Res. Bull. 33 59/2 These afferents contained in the auricular branch (Arnold's nerve) of the vagus mediate a somatovisceral reflex known as the ear-cough reflex or Arnold's nerve reflex.
2002 Lancet 24 Aug. 617/1 An ear-cough reflex can be elicited by stimulation of the anterior wall [of the external auditory meatus] in one third of cases.
ear covert n. Ornithology a patch of small feathers, frequently of a distinctive colour, covering the ear of a bird; = auricular n. b.
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the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > ear > feathers covering
auricular1826
ear covert1828
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. I. 233 Head, nape of the neck, and ear-coverts pale yellow.
1933 Brit. Birds 27 134 The cock bird had the head and ear coverts slate blue.
2012 Birdwatch Apr. 7/2 Lesser Whitethroat has a more monochrome appearance, its head appearing a darker grey colour, with even darker ear coverts.
ear cuff n. a type of earring worn around the edge of the ear.
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1982 N.Y. Times 5 Dec. xxi. 32/1 Jewelry includes ear cuffs and belt buckles, as well as earrings, pins and pendants.
2011 R. Reardon Evol. Ethan Poe vi. 108 I turn off the engine and take my yin-yang ear cuff out of my jeans pocket and slide it onto the outside edge of my left ear.
earcup n. (esp. in an aural device) a cup-shaped earpiece that fits over or encloses the user's ear in order to improve the reception of sound or to protect the ear from noise; (now) esp. such an earpiece in a pair of headphones; frequently attributive.
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1864 J. R. Leaming Mem. G. P. Cammann 16 He had one [stethoscope] in his possession sent to him from Europe, which had one sound-collecting cup and two ear-cups, and was intended for two persons to hear the same sound at the same time.
1891 U.S. Patent 453,919 1/2 The branch tube is provided with a fork or clamp, which fork is adapted to receive and support the ear-cup when the mouth-piece is not in use.
1976 Shooting Mag. Dec. 33/2 (advt.) Lightweight muff-type ear protector... Earcups are manufactured from thermoplastic with soft sponge-filled ear cushions.
1993 New Scientist 10 July 32/1 American military researchers have reviewed several systems for monitoring the consciousness of pilots, but is currently only developing one, a device that is inserted in the pilot's helmet earcups or oxygen mask.
2007 Smithsonian Feb. 33/1 (advt.) With conventional technology, smaller earcups compromise performance.
ear-deep adj. †(a) reaching the ears only (obsolete); (b) (with in, into) deeply immersed or involved; cf. up to the ears at Phrases 1o.
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1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxxviii. sig. Z7v Being but a sound, it onely workes on the mind for the present; and leaves it not reclaimed, but rapt for a while: and then it returnes, forgetting the onely eare-deepe warbles.
1797 R. Southey Poems 26 Content with ear-deep melodies.
1912 L. M. Montgomery Chron. Avonlea v. 136 The three daughters-in-law were making themselves at home in the blue sitting-room, ear-deep in harmless family gossip.
2012 Times Rec. (Fort Smith, Arkansas) (Nexis) 2 Mar. Unlike McCartney's newest release, Starr's ‘2012’ jumps ear-deep into familiar pop-rock waters.
ear defender n. (in singular and plural) a pair of ear muffs or ear plugs (now typically a piece of equipment resembling a pair of headphones) designed to protect the inner and middle ear from damage by loud or persistent noise; cf. ear protector n.
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1915 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Jan. 25/1 (heading) The Mallock-Armstrong ear defender.
1917 W. Owen Let. 9 Jan. (1967) 424 There is a Howitzer just 70 or 80 yards away... I can't tell you how glad I am you got me the ear-defenders.
1934 Discovery Dec. 345/2 Ear-defenders, small plugs which limit the intensity applied to the ear drum.
1961 Flight 80 933/3 Headsets incorporating ear defender fittings.
2005 Woodworker May 79/1 Ear defenders are another essential, particularly when using power tools.
ear douche n. a device used to introduce liquid into the ear canal; a dose of liquid administered in this way.
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1861 Lancet 4 May 438/2 A new ear douche. This invention consists of a glass cup, of suitable shape, from the bottom of which projects a metallic jet, to pass into the orifice of the ear.
1906 N.Y. Med. Jrnl. 83 1237/2 The Bier bandage was applied and hot ear douches administered.
1999 C. Czajkowski Nuk Tessli: Life Wilderness Dweller xix. 167 I tried expensive food, medicated baths and ear douches to alleviate the allergy problems.
ear-dove n. now rare either of two small doves of the genus Zenaida, having two black stripes on each side of the head; the zenaida dove ( Z. aurita), found throughout the Caribbean, and the eared dove ( Z. auriculata), of South America and the southern Caribbean.
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a1705 J. Ray Synopsis Avium & Piscium (1713) 184 Turtur auritus. Ear Dove.
1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 304 It had two spots of each side of the neck of a dark colour, whence the name of Ear-Dove.
1823 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds VIII. 52 According to Brisson, this corresponds with the Ear Dove of Sloane ; and if so, should be a native of Jamaica.
1900 M. A. Ellis Human Ear xiii. 207 There is a bird called the ear-dove, which has two spots of a dark colour, one on each side of the head.
ear dropper n. (a) an eavesdropper (rare); (b) a drop earring; = ear-drop n. 1; (c) a dropper used to administer ear-drops (ear-drop n. 3).
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the mind > attention and judgement > [noun] > secret listening > person engaged in
eavesdropper1487
hearkener1549
otacust1632
ear droppera1670
earwigger1865
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) ii. 81 An Ear-dropper might hear such things talk'd at Cock-pits and Dancing-schools.
1855 Ladies' Compan. Apr. 202/2 The stiffest, richest silks..did she rustle majestically about in; the highest head-dresses..; the most ponderous ear-droppers, and cable chain watch-guard.
1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Silas Marner xi. 190 There's nothing awanting to frighten the crows, now I've got my ear-droppers in.
1919 F. W. Burgess Antique Jewellery & Trinkets xvi. 182 The larger pear-shaped pearls which are mounted as pins and ear-droppers.
1933 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 1 Apr. 115/2 Throat brushes and ear droppers..should be included in the Schedule of Appliances.
1973 H. Goldschmiedt Pract. Formulas for Hobby or Profit iv. 183 Mix all ingredients until sodium bicarbonate is dissolved. Apply with an ear dropper.
2000 Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 23 Apr. s14 These men gathered for the first Hall of Fame dinner and those lucky enough to be ‘ear droppers’ gained an insight which never will be repeated.
2014 Western Mail (Nexis) 6 May 30 The royal wedding dress was decolleté, with just a few priceless diamonds from Turkey strung carelessly around that plump little neck, offset by clunky ear droppers.
ear exercise n. an exercise for training the ear to appreciate or analyse music.
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1869 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 3 Sept. 796/2 Ear Exercise.—The candidate to copy by hearing in, the Air and Bass of a simple single chant which will be given in the examination paper.
1887 Birmingham Instit. Mag. Sept. 23 The classes in Harmony—Ear Exercises, and Sight Singing.
1989 David Baker's Jazz Pedagogy Contents Instant arranging chart, resolutions and ear exercises, chords, voicings, Coltrane Changes chart.
ear-finger n. [probably after post-classical Latin auricularis little finger (see auricular n.); compare Old High German ōrfinger] now historical and rare the little finger (as the one most easily inserted into the ear).
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > digit > finger > [noun] > little finger
ear-fingerOE
least fingerOE
little fingerOE
little manc1300
pinkie1808
minimus1881
auricular-
OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 298 Auricularis, earfinger.
c1200 ( Latin-Old Eng. Gloss. (Bodl. 730) in Eng. Stud. (1981) 62 206/2 Auricularis, earfingar.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxix. 225 Þe litile fynge[r] [MS fynge]..hatte auricularis, ‘þe ere fyngir’, for wiþ hym we clawen and piken þe eres.
1556 T. Hill tr. B. Cocles Brief Epitomye Phisiognomie sig. Eiiii The fore fynger, middle fynger, ryng fynger, and eare fynger, haue three Jointes a pece.
1644 J. Bulwer Chirologia 179 To becken with the Eare-finger is their usuall concise expression.
1703 tr. P. Dionis Anat. Humane Bodies Improv'd 80 The fifth is the least of all, and called the Auricular, or Ear-Finger.
1809 B. Parr London Med. Dict. I. 217/2 The little finger is called the ear-finger, because with it we are most apt to rub and pick the inner ear.
1952 R. Graves White Goddess (rev. ed.) xi. 196 The Devil's blessing, still used by the Frisian Islanders, consists in raising the fore-finger and ear-finger of the right hand, with the other fingers folded against the palm.
ear fly n. North American any of various horseflies or deer flies (family Tabanidae) that bite the ears of horses; esp. Chrysops vittatus.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Brachycera > family Tabanidae > genus Chrysops > member of
ear fly1806
moose-fly1834
1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 30 May in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1991) VII. 309 Most of the insects common to the U' States are found here. the butterflies, common house and blowing flies, the horse flies, except the goald coloured ear fly.
1870 C. V. Riley 2nd Ann. Rep. Insects State Missouri 129 The striped Chrysops..is frequently called the ‘Ear-fly’.
1917 E. D. Sanderson & L. M. Peairs School Entomol. 136 The Horse-flies. Tabanidæ... Some are called Ear-flies, some Gad-flies.
2010 D. Bennet & T. Tiner Compl. Up North 144/1 Horse fly alias: gadflies, green-headed monsters, breeze flies, ear flies, tabanids, les taons, family Tabanidae.
ear fungus n. (a) any of various fungi thought to resemble earlobes; cf. Jew's ear n. 1, Judas's ear n. at Judas n. Compounds 2b; (b) a fungal infection of the ear.
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1800 E. Darwin Phytologia iii. §xvii. 490 I have known the peziza auricula, or ear-fungus, which was formerly an article of the materia medica under the name Jew's ear, to be stewed and eaten in considerable quantity with impunity.
1859 Lancet 17 Sept. 283/1 The ear fungus is said by Robin to be aspergillus: a mucor by Slayter.
1945 Collier's 16 June 74/2 Ear fungus had grounded Jack and weather-over-target kept Bob at home.
1993 Toronto Life Sept. 68/2 Mullein is an antidote to ear fungus.
2013 Waikato Times (Nexis) 1 June 5 The ear fungus (Auricularia cornea) was eaten by Maori as a famine food.
ear gristle n. rare the cartilage of the pinna; †the pinna itself (obsolete).
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1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked xxi. §206 To the ears are fitted the ear-gristles, being broad to reflect the sounds, and hollowed with turnings to carry them inwards.
1849 G. J. Adler Dict. German & Eng. Lang. 454/3 [Ohren]-snorpel, ear-gristle, cartilage of the ear.
2010 A. Berghaus et al. in R. Staudenmaier Aesthetics & Functionality Ear Reconstruction 61 The cartilage..can be adapted to any existing rudimentary ear gristle that might be left.
† ear-hard adj. Obsolete (probably) = ear-brisk adj.
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1726 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. (ed. 3) Ear Hard, spoken of a Horse.
ear hoop n. an earring, esp. a hoop earring.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery worn on the ear > [noun]
earringOE
earlet1610
ear-bob1648
top1703
rose drop1707
ear-drop1720
snap1748
ear hoop1779
ear stud1817
ear-plug1820
girandole1825
stud1831
stud earring1873
ear-piercing1896
sleeper1896
pierced earring1914
earclip1940
keeper1960
1779 Morning Chron. 1 July McKenzie had often visited the shop as a customer, and on the day above-mentioned brought a pair of gold ear-hoops, value five shillings.
1808 Massachusetts Spy 18 May A large assortment of Earhoops, of different sizes.
1845 S. Judd Margaret i. x. 64 Many wore ear-hoops of pinchbeck, large as a dollar.
1919 Boys' Life June 5/1 Both were swarthy-skinned and wore tarnished gold ear-hoops.
1981 T. Morrison Tar Baby ii. 45 And if it isn't me he wants, but any black girl who looks like me, what will happen when he finds out that I hate ear hoops.
2012 Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 13 Dec. The 64-year-old former teacher—with short reddish-brown hair, diamond ear hoops and pink shirt—cut a formidable presence.
ear-kissing adj. that gratifies the ear, flattering.
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a1616 W. Shakespeare King Lear (1623) ii. i. 8 You haue heard of the newes abroad, I meane the whisper'd ones, for they are yet but eare-kissing arguments.
1822 C. Lamb in London Mag. Mar. 284/1 A pun hath a hearty kind of present ear-kissing smack with it.
1999 D. Haslam Manchester, Eng. viii. 206 M-People built their career in classic clubland territory..but relentless ear-kissing hit-making won them a big, adult, mainstream audience.
ear knowledge n. knowledge acquired by hearing (in early use, knowledge obtained by hearsay); knowledge of the sound of something; frequently paired with eye-knowledge.
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the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > knowledge, what is known > [noun] > by hearsay
ear knowledge1624
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον iv. 186 In all this banding of their disreputation..nothing ever came within the compasse of his eare knowledge.
1683 T. Tryon Way to Health xiv. 360 Such Ear-Knowledge does not arise from the Light of a mans Life, but is a thing accidental, foreign, and at a distance.
1809 Nubilia in Search of Husband viii. 227 True wisdom is the fruit of silence and meditation: but ear-knowledge may be bought at a cheap rate.
1871 W. H. H. Murray Park-Street Pulpit 326 It is not enough that I should have an eye-knowledge of this engine: I must have an ear-knowledge of it.
1910 B. W. Bacon Fourth Gospel in Res. & Deb. iv. 102 His..direct eye and ear knowledge of Polycarp.
1994 P. F. Berliner Thinking in Jazz 159 Exclusive dependence on ear knowledge eventually limits many performers.
ear lamp n. †(a) an otoscope (obsolete); (b) Archaeology a type of Graeco-Roman oil lamp having ear-shaped handles (cf. sense 7a).
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1843 Dublin Jrnl. Med. Sci. 23 393 The instrument which I have here described is now generally known under the name of Kramer's ear lamp.
1896 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 22 Aug. 445/1 The Medical Supply Association..exhibited Microscopes in all varieties by Leitz;..Laryngoscopes, Ophthalmoscopes, Throat and Ear Lamps, [etc.].
1961 J. Perlzweig in Athenian Agora 7 14 Alpha Ear Lamps... These lamps all have ear-shaped lugs at the sides and most of them have alpha on the base.
2002 M. H. Sedge Lost Ships Pisa xi. 225 The typically Imperial disc lamps, the ear lamps, with their side handles, and the Firmalampen type, with its channel.
ear-lap n. [ < ear n.1 + lap n.1; compare Old High German ōrlappa (perhaps after Old English), and also Old Frisian ārlippa, Dutch oorlap, Middle Low German ōrlappe] now English regional (north-east midlands) and rare the pinna of the ear, or a part of this; (in later use) spec. = earlobe n. 1.In quots. OE, c1200 rendering classical Latin pinnula in the post-classical sense ‘upper part or tip of the ear’, (perhaps also) ‘earlobe’ (Isidore Origines 11. 1. 46).
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > ear > [noun] > flap or lobe
lapc1000
ear-lapOE
list1530
lippet1598
lug1602
lappet1609
handle1615
libbet1627
auricle1650
flip-flop1661
pinna1682
helix1684
lobe1719
earlobea1785
ear flap1810
leaf1819
shell1831
pavilion1842
ear bud1953
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 97 Pinnula, earlæppa, uel ufweard eare.
c1200 ( Latin-Old Eng. Gloss. (Bodl. 730) in Eng. Stud. (1981) 62 205/2 Pinnula, earleppen.
a1400 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 54 (MED) For to wete yf a seke man sal lyve or dy..his ere-lappes waxes lethy.
1561 J. Hollybush tr. H. Brunschwig Most Excellent Homish Apothecarye f. 13 Pull ye patient sore by ye earlap vpwardly.
1693 N. Staphorst tr. L. Rauwolf Trav. Eastern Countries ii. ii, in J. Ray Coll. Curious Trav. I. 135 One had a great Ring in each Ear,..so heavy that it stretched down his ear-laps to his very Shoulders.
1785 G. Forster tr. A. Sparrman Voy. Cape Good Hope II. 184 There is nothing like ear-laps to be seen on this creature.
1880 E. Oppert Forbidden Land iv. 126 The hat is..attached by strings round the earlaps.
1914 Jewish Q. Rev. 4 376 The priest shall put (it) on the right ear-lap of the one to be declared clean.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 90/1 Earlap, earlobe.
† ear-lechery n. Obsolete (indulgence of) the desire to hear pleasing or flattering things.
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1672 Emilia ii. vii. 32 Complements, Complements! Ear-Lechery at least, And I expect e'er long to see the rest.
1737 M. Green Spleen (1738) 20 Hir'd to praise with stallion pen, Serve the ear-lechery of men.
1815 R. Polwhele Fair Isabel vi. liii. 331 O! the ear-lechery of her lute, In sooth, it was so sweet, Adorers stood, in rapture mute, Or trembled at her feet.
ear-length adj. (of hair) reaching down to the ears.
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1928 Amarillo (Texas) Daily News 17 Feb. 12/3 Minnie..is a decided brunette, with an ear-length, curly bob.
1977 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 11 Sept. f2/4 Terry..had her below-the-shoulder-length hair cut into an ear-length style.
2004 K. Harrison Dead Witch Walking iii. 43 His triangular face was framed by ear-length hair, which he was constantly flipping out of his eyes.
earlid n. a structure capable of closing off the ear; esp. a hypothetical equivalent to the eyelid; (in early use also) †the upper part of the auricle of the ear (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Eare lydde, or over~parte of the eare, pinnula.
1715 R. Bulstrode Misc. Ess. 27 We have no Ear-Lids to keep us from Hearing.
1871 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Vertebrated Animals 250 The tympanic membranes [of the crocodile] are exposed, but a cutaneous valve, or earlid, lies above each, and can be shut down over it.
1930 Times 3 July 10/5 Nature..has not provided against assaults upon the hearing, and we have no ‘ear-lid’ by which we can shut out noise.
2008 Guardian 28 June 39/3 The best thing about radio is that people are born without earlids.
earlock n. a lock of hair over or above the ear; spec. (in plural) = payess n.In quot. OE (in plural) rendering classical Latin antiae forelocks (see antiae n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > lock or locks > [noun]
lockeOE
forelockc1000
hair-lockc1000
earlockOE
foretopc1290
tressc1290
lachterc1375
fuke1483
sidelock1530
proudfallc1540
widow's locka1543
folding1552
fore-bush1591
flake1592
witch knot1598
tuft1603
French lock1614
head-lock1642
witch-lock1682
rat's tail1706
side-curl1749
scalp knot1805
rat-tail1823
straggler1825
scalping-tuft1826
scalp-lock1827
aggravator1835
soap-lock1840
payess1845
stringleta1852
list1859
tresslet1882
drake's tail1938
OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 92 Antie, earloccas.
1628 W. Prynne Vnlouelinesse of Louelockes 6 The Heathenish, and Pagan Inhabitants of Duharhe doe cut their Haire, leauing onely two curled Lockes hanging downe from their Temples, which they tye vp vnder their Chinnes: which Eare-lockes, the Author stiles a pestilent custome.
?1775 ‘T. Bobbin’ Battle Flying Dragon p. viii He twists his Stick in the Ear-locks.
1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. II. vi. i. 70 His hair strutting out on each side in stiffly pomatumed ear locks.
1854 J. R. Bartlett Personal Narr. Explor. & Incidents II. xxx. 230 Their ear-locks either hang loose, or are braided in several strands.
1867 J. R. Lowell in Atlantic Monthly Jan. 25 His ear-locks gray, striped with a foxy brown, Were braided up to hide a desert crown.
1967 E. Wilson Jrnl. in Sixties: Last Jrnl. (1993) 630 The young men with sprouting black earlocks and beards under their chins.
2003 N. Rush Mortals xxi. 261 ‘These earlocks, they are called . . . ?’ ‘I forget what.’ ‘Just a minor thing. Peyot. There are called peyot.’
ear moth n. any of several European or Eurasian noctuid moths of the genus Amphipoea, having brown forewings with pale ear-shaped markings; often with distinguishing word.Cf. golden ear n. at golden adj. and n. Compounds 3b.
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1819 G. Samouelle Entomologist's Compend. 467/3 (index) Ear moth, golden.
1954 Country Life 18 Nov. 1778 (caption) A giant ear moth found recently in south-east England.
2009 C. Manley Brit. Moths & Butterflies (rev. ed.) 244/1 All four ‘ear’ moths are very similar and can only be reliably distinguished by genitalia examination.
† ear-nosed adj. Conchology Obsolete rare (of the shell of a bivalve mollusc) having the hinge towards one end, resulting in an ear-shaped valve.
ΚΠ
1705 J. Petiver in Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 1954 This is distinguisht from the last..particularly in being Ear-nosed, viz. inclining more towards one end of the hinge.
ear-plate n. now historical a part of a helmet covering the ear.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > helmet > [noun] > ear-piece
ear-plate1622
oreillet1834
1622 F. Markham Five Decades Epist. of Warre i. ix. §3. 34 A Spanish Morian..bound downe with lined eare-plates vnderneath his chinne.
1731 R. Drury Madagascar (ed. 2) 393 They have Silver in some of the most mountainous, and inland Parts of the Country, and know how to make Ear-plates of it, and Mannelers.
1835 A. Smith Diary 18 Apr. (1939) I. 360 Some of the men wore very large ear plates.
2000 T. Harris & K. Franklin Shrikes & Bush-Shrikes (2010) 139/1 Large dark brown patches on ear-coverts and sides of neck, giving appearance of a medieval helmet with protective ear-plates.
† ear-port n. Obsolete rare an ear, regarded as the means of entry for sound (cf. port n.3 1b).
ΚΠ
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle IV. cviii. 256 Your ear-ports will let in the sound.
ear protector n. (in plural and singular) a pair of ear muffs or similar coverings (now typically a piece of equipment resembling a pair of headphones) providing protection for the ears against noise or in cold weather.
ΚΠ
1851 Punch 20 186/2 The Verdi Ear-Protector—to enable a young lady to sit out one of Verdi's operas without hearing any of the noise.
1884 Internat. Health Exhib. Official Catal. 156/1 Ear Protector for winter.
1959 Pop. Mech. Dec. 261/1 (advt.) A close-fitting ear protector has been designed for use at jet airfields, on carrier flight decks, at missile launching sites and in industry.
2006 Fast Company Jan. 69/2 A man wearing ear protectors squirts gas into the fuel tank and oil into the crankcase, pulls the starter cord, and brings the machine to life.
2014 Observer (Nexis) 7 Sept. 32 The average age [at the music festival] was brought down by a fair smattering of kids sporting colourful ear protectors.
ear reach n. = earshot n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > audibility > [noun] > range > earshot
ear reach1605
earshot1607
tongue-shot1656
1605 B. Jonson Sejanus v. sig. M Is he not blest That gets a seate in eye-reach of him? more, That comes in eare, or tongue-reach?
1606 J. Marston Wonder of Women iii. i. sig. E Not thou shalt heare, all stand without eare-reach Of the soft cries nice shrinking brides do yeeld.
1646 T. Fuller Andronicus ii. vi. sig. C6 Some invisible Eare might lie in Ambush within the Eare-reach of his words.
1796 R. Cumberland Days of Yore iii. 39 There's not a Dane within ear-reach of it, but will turn out, believing it the call of Voltimar.
1859 G. W. Thornbury Life in Spain I. v. 95 A brawny, bare-chested mendicant, squatted down at a church porch..within ear-reach of the great pulse of the organ that jars the quire.
1919 H. Willsie Forbidden Trail xii. 261 He was within ear-reach of possible gun-shots.
1997 Billboard 26 July 78/1 Seated within unavoidable ear reach of a trio of twentysomething musicians.
† ear-rentingly adv. [compare renting adj.; perhaps with punning allusion to ear-rent n. (although this is first attested slightly later)] Obsolete (probably) in a way that rends one's ears.
ΚΠ
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 31 Roaring and eare-rentingly exclayming.
† ear-ridge n. Obsolete a headband worn as a protection against cold.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xxx. 263 I wear an ear-ridge, a tiara, to speak heroically, of wolf-skin.
ear roll n. now rare in a leather helmet, a roll of leather behind the ear.
ΚΠ
1908 Autocar 12 Sept. 402/2 To wear caps with ear rolls (such as are now commonly used in motor racing), to enable them to hear an approaching car.
1922–3 Halford Cycle Co. Ltd. 110 Helmets. Leather, with Ear Rolls.
1932 Pop. Mech. Jan. 92/1 The light is in the visor of the helmet, and the batteries are held in the protecting ear rolls.
ear room n. rare (a) an opportunity to be heard, consideration (cf. houseroom n.); (b) space in which one can hear.
ΚΠ
1648 Bp. J. Hall Select Thoughts 143 Some there are that will not give so much as ear-room to the word of truth.
1817 ‘H. Hedgehog’ Pavilion I. 143 Make way! make way! that they may have elbow-room and ear-room to attend to my master's lecture!
2007 AutoWeek (Nexis) 20 Aug. 17 The side glass..is more upright, giving the van a boxier look from outside but adding huge elbow and ear room and an airy feeling inside.
ear root n. the base of the external ear; the earlobe.
ΚΠ
1599 S. Harsnett Discov. Fraudulent Pract. I. Darrel 212 Hee saw it plainely in his throate, in his tounge, and in his cheeke, neare to his eare root.
1709 London Gaz. No. 4540/8 A..Bay Gelding..hath large slouch Ears..very large Ear-roots.
1803 J. Plymley Gen. View Agric. Shropshire 244 If a line were drawn from ear-root to ear-root..and the centre of this line were found, this centre would be the place where the knife should enter.
2008 N. Williams John xiii. 93 Papias..holds the jagged stump of ear root,..views aghast the bloodied fingers, and falls unconscious to the ground.
† ear-rounder n. Obsolete a person who spreads rumours or gossip in a secretive or insidious manner; cf. rounder n.1
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > conversation > [noun] > chatting or chat > one who chats or gossips > one who spreads rumours
ear-rounder?1387
tidings-makerc1440
runkera1500
rumourera1616
scatter-storya1670
gazette1703
quidnunc1709
anecdote-monger1761
what-now1890
yenta1923
?1387 T. Wimbledon Serm. (Corpus Cambr.) (1967) 82 It is good þat euery lowere of comunytes þat þey be not lad be foolis ne be none ere rowneres.
1615 T. Mason Christs Victorie v. 106 It is good for Rulers to take sober councell, to eschew eare-rounders, and to haue an eye of loue vnto the Commons.
ear sac n. the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear (see labyrinth n. 3a); cf. ear bulb n. (a).
ΚΠ
1848 Edinb. Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 70 299 Possibly with contraction of the membranous walls of the ear-sac itself.
1923 Proc. Royal Soc. London B. 97 570 He removed the auditory nerve and attached ear sacs.
2012 M. Beyer Kaltenburg (U.S. ed.) viii. 227 I had to make sure I didn't sever the ear sacs.
earsay n. [ < ear n.1 + say v.1 and int., as folk-etymological alteration of hearsay n.] rare hearsay.
ΚΠ
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. iii. 53 I have only ear-say evidence.
1999 M. Duneier in R. E. Ocejo Ethnography & City (2013) vi. 90/2 He don't know nothing, because he just got here today. He's just going by earsay.
† ear-scalp n. Obsolete rare the skin covering the ears.
ΚΠ
1873 St. G. Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. ix. 396 This part is distributed to the ear-scalp and the muscles of the mouth.
ear shell n. an abalone or ormer (genus Haliotis), which has an ear-shaped shell; the shell itself.
ΚΠ
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xvi. 373 Eare-shell.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Ear Shell, auris marina, in natural history, the name of a genus of shell-fish.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 14/2 This section of Gastropods [sc. Haliotidae] commonly called ‘Ear-shells’ or ‘Sea-ears’.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xv. 395 In the ear-shell or Haliotis, which is an old-fashioned Gasteropod, there are two well-developed gills.
2011 M. Walters & J. Johnson World of Animals (ed. 2) 60 (caption) The abalone or ear shell is valued for its pearly lining and as a food.
ear-shrift n. now historical auricular confession.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > [noun] > auricular
shrift of mouthc1175
ear-shrift1528
ear-confession1531
auricular confession?1542
1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. xcviiiv Yf he repente and knowleage his trespase, God promyseth him forgevenesse with oute eare shrifte.
1554 T. Sampson in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. xviii. 50 But this is so far from their ear-shrift.
1604 G. Babington Comfortable Notes: Levit. xiii. 108 Our popish Teachers would gather an argument for their auricular confession, and eare shrift.
2011 S. Beckwith Shakespeare & Gram. of Forgiveness iii. v. 111 The reforms worked against both the notion of a secret ear-shrift to a priest and the idea that a priest could, for example, celebrate a mass on his own.
† ear-spectacle n. Obsolete an ear trumpet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > audiology or audiometry > [noun] > aids to defective hearing
trunk1546
otacousticon1615
otacoustic1617
ear-spectacle1626
sarbacane1644
acoustic1659
acousticon1660
hearing-trumpet1725
ear trumpet1731
trumpet1774
otophone1839
auricle1864
audiphone1880
osteophone1892
microphonograph1897
hearing aid1922
deaf-aid1934
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §285 Mark whether any Sound abroad in the open Air, will not be heard distinctly, from further distance, than without that Instrument; being (as it were) an Eare-spectacle.
ear-splitting adj. that seems to split the ears; extremely loud.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > [adjective] > deafening
deafeninga1616
deafinga1625
obtunding1645
stunning1667
ear-splitting1761
splitting1821
head-splitting1824
shattering1842
ear-sore1859
1761 J. Burgh Art of Speaking 45 What is left for me to say of those devotion-confounding, ear-splitting pests of our churches, I mean, the parish-clerks, and parish-children?
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Sept. 4/1 The trombones seemed..to drown everything else by their ear-splitting tones.
1953 J. Cary Except the Lord xviii. 80 I drifted through the heat, the noise,..The ear-splitting blare of steam organs,..and the ground bass of voices.
2004 S. Quigley Run for Home (2005) xx. 331 Mrs Archer had been listening to the ear-splitting din for nearly two hours, and knew that it could go on all night.
ear stone n. †(a) a fossil resembling a human ear (obsolete rare); (b) = otolith n. 1 (cf. also otolite n.).
ΚΠ
1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. 646 The Lapis Auricularis or Ear Stone of Dr. Plot, is a mere fossil oyster.
1854 C. D. Badham Prose Halieutics 171 The large ear-stones, which..characterise all the members of the present group [sc. gurnards].
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xv. 390 The periodicity of growth is indicated by..the concentric layers of a pearl or in the ear-stones of a haddock.
1997 G. S. Helfman et al. Diversity of Fishes vi. 69/1 The lapillus, a solid deposit, or otolith (‘ear stone’),..rests on a bed of sensory hair cells.
† ear-string n. Obsolete an imaginary organ that facilitates the sense of hearing (cf. eye-string n., heartstring n.). In quot. a1645 poetic, probably suggesting both the imaginary organ and a piece of jewellery.
ΚΠ
a1645 W. Strode Poet. Wks. (1907) 44 (title of poem) An eare-stringe.
1702 L'Estrange's Visions of Quevedo Burlesqu'd i. 20 Women..Who, with their Tongues eternal clack, Have made our very Ear-Strings crack.
1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama xiv. 148 The ear-strings throb as if they were broke.
ear stud n. a stud, frequently an ornamented one, worn in a hole pierced through the lobe of the ear.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery worn on the ear > [noun]
earringOE
earlet1610
ear-bob1648
top1703
rose drop1707
ear-drop1720
snap1748
ear hoop1779
ear stud1817
ear-plug1820
girandole1825
stud1831
stud earring1873
ear-piercing1896
sleeper1896
pierced earring1914
earclip1940
keeper1960
1817 T. S. Raffles Hist. Java I. iv. 174 Brass..is manufactured into various other articles, from the smallest, such as buttons, ear-studs, and other ornaments, in imitation of gold patterns, to brass guns of considerable calibre.
1897 ‘M. Twain’ Following Equator 394 Besides these two ornaments Cassi had on her person ear-studs, a nose-ring, some silver toe-rings, two necklaces, a pair of silver anklets and bracelets.
1961 Times 6 June 22/6 A pair of circular-cut diamond earstuds.
1999 M. Padmanabhan Harvest in H. Gilbert Postcolonial Plays (2001) 217/1 (stage direct.) She wears glass bangles, a tiny nose-ring, ear-studs, a slender chain around her neck.
2007 Guardian 14 Nov. 10/5 The school bans jewellery other than ear studs.
ear tip n. (a) the tip of the pinna or external ear; (b) a small earpiece or earplug.
ΚΠ
1678 J. P. tr. J. Johnstone Descr. Nature Four-footed Beasts xiii. 85 The ear-tip thin, and transparant as a cats.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. I. xxix. 395 A crescent of black marking the ear-tips.
1881 Western Lancet 10 107 It [sc. a stethoscope] consists of a wooden bell and soft rubber cup of flexible rubber tube and of wooden ear tips, which are padded with soft rubber.
1997 N.Y. Times 7 Sept. 26 (advt.) Lightweight, comfortable, ergonomically-designed rubber eartips seal water out and keep sound in.
2009 S. Patron Lucky Break xix. 104 Well, thought Lucky, seeing Lincoln's ear tips turn pink, that finally shut him up.
ear-tone n. rare a sound component, such as a combinational or resultant tone, produced as a result of the process of auditory perception.
ΚΠ
1901 E. B. Titchener Exper. Psychol. I. 40 The first difference-tone..is an ear-tone and not an air-tone.
ear-training n. the cultivation of the ability to distinguish and reproduce sounds and rhythms in speech or music.
ΚΠ
1857 N.Y. Musical Rev. 8 Aug. 246/2 Mr. Root avows himself indebted for his admirable system of ear-training and hearing exercises to the fact, that while employed in the New-York Institution for the Blind, he was thrown upon his own resources to devise means for teaching these poor unfortunates.
1899 F. G. Shinn Elem. Ear-training I. p. iii The author believes that the placing of the subject of direct ear-training in a prominent position in schemes of musical education, will..raise the standard demanded of public and private performances.
1921 H. E. Palmer Princ. Lang.-study 17 If his ear-training is neglected during the elementary stage, he will replace foreign sounds by native ones.
1929 I. C. Ward Phonetics of Eng. (1931) iii. 17 Ear-training exercises.
1947 Penguin Music Mag. May 49 The lessons should be as varied as possible: a little ear-training, a little sight-reading.., a few finger exercises.
1991 Piano Q. Fall 63/2 (advt.) The Frederick Harris Music illustrated catalog featuring the acclaimed Celebration Series for piano, plus theory, ear-training, and sight-reading publications is yours by calling.
ear tuft n. (a) (in a bird, esp. an owl) either of two tufts of feathers near the top of the head, frequently erectile, which resemble ears but are unconnected with them; (b) a tuft of hair on the tip of the pinna (of an animal).
ΚΠ
1821 J. Latham Gen. Hist. Birds I. 316 Much has been said concerning the ear tufts of this species [sc. the short-eared owl].
1837 C. F. Partington Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. III. 281/2 The white-headed Jacchus..has the head and throat entirely white, and the ear tuft black.
1893 A. Newton Dict. Birds 111 The Numidian Crane or Demoiselle, G[rus] virgo, [is] distinguished from every other by its long white ear-tufts.
1909 E. T. Seton Life-hist. Northern Animals II. 682 The stripes on the face, the black ear-tufts, the whiskers, the little nervous twitching black-tipped tail, are no doubt important direction marks to help the Lynx's own kind in recognizing it.
1947 Times 4 Dec. 6/4 The grey squirrel, though it lacks the ear tufts, is no more ratty than the red.
2003 J. R. Duncan Owls of World i. 24 (caption) Under low light conditions, ear tufts may be important in species recognition [in owls].
ear-whisperer n. a person who whispers insidiously in people's ears; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1549 J. Olde in M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Ephes. Prol. sig. .ii Seduced..by sedicious earewhisperours.
1851 Peter Parley's Ann. 206 Come, receive the garland of laurel, the robe of honour, the high place of ear-whisperer to the empire.
1910 Pearson's Mag. May 640/1 Ignorance is the bosom friend and ear whisperer of the most destructive enemy man has to-day.
2002 G. Byng Molly Moon's Incredible Bk. of Hypnotism iv. 33 On Hazel's right was the ear-whisperer, Roger Fibbin. He was Hazel's informant; her spy.
ear wire n. †(a) an arrangement of wire around the ear used to keep a head covering in place (obsolete); (b) the hook, wire, or metal loop that passes through the hole in a pierced ear, to which a gemstone, ornament, etc., may be attached to make an earring.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery worn on the head > [noun] > wires
ear wire1611
earling1660
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Desbride, an eare-wire; or the wire that stayes the flaps, or head-peece, of a French-hood.
1652 O. Felltham Char. Low-Countries 50 Their Ear-wyers have so nipt in their Cheeks.
1676 J. Cooke Mellificium Chirurg. (ed. 3) 751 The Ear-Wires worn by Women, to fix their Head-Clothes to, to keep them on.
1854 Sci. Amer. 27 May 292/2 [A] means of removing the drop from the knob without taking the ear-wire from the ear of the wearer.
1915 in P. Farrer Confid. Corr. on Cross Dressing (1997) 102 The snap of the ear-wires; and..the immense feeling of pleasure when..a pair of massive swinging earrings were first introduced.
1962 Jewelers' Circular-Keystone 20 June 485 (advt.) Geo. H. Fuller & Son Co. Pawtucket, R.I... Manufacturers of high grade jewelers findings... Ear wires... Button backs and screw posts.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 27 Apr. c8 (advt.) Drop earrings 1.2″ diameter, hang at length 1.7″. Sterling silver ear wires.
earwort n. †(a) houseleek, Sempervivum tectorum (obsolete rare); (b) any of several plants reputed to cure deafness, esp. the herbaceous plant Oldenlandia auricularia (family Rubiaceae), of South Asia (now historical and rare); (c) any of several liverworts of the order Jungermanniales, having ear-shaped leaves.
ΚΠ
a1400 Alphita (Selden) (1887) 20 Barba iouis uel..semperuiua, gallice iubarbe, anglice syngrene, erewort, houslek.
1695 J. Mullins Some Observ. Cylonian Plant 4 My Design in this Sheet is only to give the World an account of a particular Plant brought from India, that hath a Specifick quality against Deafness..; it's called Ear-wort, the Indian Name I know not.
1749 J. Barrow Dict. Medicum Universale Auricularia, ear-wort..is a species of mint.
1857 T. Redwood Suppl. Pharmacopœia (ed. 3) 428 Dysophylla Auricularia. (Blum.) Mentha villosa, Auricularia, Ceylonian plant, Earwort, Marlow. East Indies. Used for deafness.
1902 Trans. Connecticut Acad. Arts & Sci. 11 581 (heading) Ear Wort..Among rocks along the shores; a ragged-looking shrub, with small leaves.
1998 L. V. Fleming in Drafting & Implementing Action Plans for Threatened Species (Council of Europe) 63 Marsh earwort Jamesoniella undulifolia (internationally threatened).
2003 Hist. Jrnl. 46 498 James Mullins identified the curative properties of the cylonian plant, or ear-wort, suggested both topical application and internal consumption. [etc.].
2013 R. D. Porley England's Rare Mosses & Liverworts 206 Scapania praetervisa Ciliate Earwort.

Derivatives

ear-like adj. resembling an ear.
ΚΠ
1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northants. iii. 193 The small Ear-like Oyster-shell.
1911 Trans. Amer. Entomol. Soc. 37 138 The membranous flap of each wing of the seventh ventral plate is peculiar in shape, being somewhat ear-like, and finely lined.
2009 New Scientist 28 Nov. 12/2 The creature flaps large ear-like fins to swim.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

earn.2

Brit. /ɪə/, U.S. /ɪ(ə)r/
Forms:

α. Old English æchir (Mercian, plural), Old English æhher (Northumbrian, dative), Old English eher (Northumbrian, dative), Old English eher- (Northumbrian, inflected form), Old English ehras (Northumbrian, plural), Old English hera (Northumbrian, genitive plural, probably transmission error); see also icker n.

β. Old English gear (rare), Old English 1600s– ear, Old English (in compounds)–Middle English er, Middle English eer, Middle English eere, Middle English ere, Middle English ȝer, Middle English ner, Middle English yere, Middle English–1500s eyre, Middle English–1600s eare.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian ār , Middle Dutch aer (Dutch aar ), Old Saxon ehir (Middle Low German ār , āre ), Old High German ah (rare), ahir , ehir , eher (Middle High German ach (rare), eher , äher , German Ähre ), Old Icelandic ax , Old Swedish ax (Swedish ax ), Old Danish ax (Danish aks ), Gothic ahs (genitive ahsis ) < the same Indo-European base as classical Latin acus (genitive aceris ) husk of corn, chaff. Compare awn n., ail n.1, and edge n., from the same base with various suffixes. Compare also icker n.Apparently originally an Indo-European neuter s -stem. The word shows considerable variation in gender in West Germanic languages. In Old English the r (West Germanic z ) of the formative element has been levelled throughout the paradigm, and the word usually inflects as a strong neuter a -stem (with uninflected dative singular forms æhher, eher in Northumbrian). Compare rother n. and the discussion and references at that entry. Old English (Anglian) forms (see α. forms) show gemination of the original velar fricative before the following r , and either smoothing of the broken stem vowel (æ < ea ; compare Mercian æchir , Northumbrian æhher ) or i-mutation of ea to e caused by the original i of the formative element (compare Northumbrian eher- ). Forms retaining the velar are continued in Older Scots: see icker n. In contrast, Old English (West Saxon) ēar (see β. forms) shows breaking of the stem vowel æ (to ea ) before the fricative, and its subsequent loss intervocalically, resulting in contraction of vowels and compensatory lengthening (ēa ). Such forms are reflected in the modern standard form. Old English gēar and Middle English yere, ȝer show the development of a palatal on-glide. Middle English ner shows metanalysis (see N n.).
1. The compact flowering spike or seed-bearing head of certain cereal grasses, as wheat, barley, and rye.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > cereal plants or corn > ear or part of ear
eareOE
corn-eara1387
spike1393
icker1513
spikelet1860
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. li. 124 Genim beren ear, beseng, lege on swa hat & hat wæter, lafa on.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xii. 1 Hys leorningcnihtas hingryde & hig ongunnun pluccian þa ear [OE Lindisf. ehera, Rushw. æchir; c1200 West Saxon Gospels: Hatton ear; L. spicas] & ætan.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 133 Ha breken þe eares bi þe wei.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2104 .vii. eares wexen fette of coren.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 10045 (MED) Þo grene corn in somer ssolde curne, To foule wormes muchedel þe eres gonne turne.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) vii. l. 16 Now gynneth barly repe and is tanende Er theer to breke and shede hit.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. viiiv Sprot barley hath a flat eyre.
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 151 The white Lammas has both ears and grain white, and the red Lammas both red.
1740 W. Somervile Hobbinol ii. 21 The ripen'd Grain, whose bending Ears Invite the Reaper's Hand.
1773 P. Brydone Tour Sicily & Malta II. xxix. 189 Medals..are still found, with an elegant figure of Ceres, and an ear of wheat for the reverse.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 173 Marking each little object on his road, An insect, sprig of grass, and ear of grain.
1899 E. Knobel Grasses Sedges & Rushes Northern U.S. 20 Cockspur Grass... small ears in clusters on the stem.
1967 K. Rexroth Coll. Shorter Poems 146 The full barley ears whip and flail In the rain-gorged wind.
2008 U. McGovern Lost Crafts (2009) 330 A lover's knot of three pieces of straw plaited together, with the ears of grain left on for decoration.
2. spec. A head or cob of maize.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun] > maize > head or cob
ear of corna1425
ear1679
mealie cob1859
maize cob1882
1679 Philos. Trans. 1677 (Royal Soc.) 12 1066 After 'tis gather'd, it [sc. maize] must, except laid very thin, be presently stripped from the Husks... The common way..is to weave the Ears together in long Traces by some parts of the Husk left thereon.
1737 Acts Assembly Bermuda 100 Fourscore Ears of Indian Corn.
1831 J. M. Peck Guide for Emigrants ii. 156 The ears [of Virginia corn] are usually five or six feet, and often more from the ground.
1852 ‘I. Marvel’ Dream Life 199 Broad rustling leaves, and ears half glowing with crowded corn.
1975 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 5 Oct. 22/5 Nowadays, squaw corn is grown purely for its highly ornamental, variegated ears.
1995 Midwest Living Apr. 156/2 They shell the ears, grade the corn, seal-pack it and send it to stores in the U.S. and in 30 other countries.
2004 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 24 Apr. 50 If you are lucky you may harvest two ears of sweetcorn per plant.

Phrases

P1.
ear of corn n. (a) = sense 1; (b) = sense 2.Cf. note at corn n.1 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun] > maize > head or cob
ear of corna1425
ear1679
mealie cob1859
maize cob1882
a1425 (?a1390) J. Mirk Instr. Parish Priests (Royal) (1974) l. 1390 Hast gone be any stye, And croppyd ȝerne [a1450 Claud. ȝerus] of corne þe by?
1530 Bible (Tyndale) i. xli. f. 59 He slepte agayne and dreamed the second tyme, that..[seven] eares of corne grewe apon one stalke.
1610 True Declar. Estate Colonie Virginia 28 The wheat beeing sowen thicke, some stalkes beare eares of corne.
1620 N. Rogers True Convert 179 We may be cropt off like an eare of corne.
1721 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (ed. 5) I. 143 What Corn you stack must be bound up in Sheaves, that so the Ears of the Corn may be turned inward, and the Straw-ends out.
1844 Amer. Agriculturist June 167/2 I have never yet (though I have..counted probably thousands) seen an ear of corn with an odd number of rows.
1901 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 21 203 Triangular plait-work offerings made of ears of corn.
2007 Time Out N.Y. 21 June 32/2 We started with the fresh-grilled ear of corn, slathered with mayo and anejo cheese.
P2. in (the) ear: in the stage of bearing ears (cf. in flower at flower n. 10a). Similarly into ear.In Old English also †on the ear.
ΚΠ
OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) iv. 28 Seo eorðe wæstm berað ærest gærs, syððan ear, syþþan fullne hwæte on þam eare [OE Lindisf. in eher, OE Rushw. in æhher, c1200 West Saxon Gospels: Hatton on þam eare; L. in spica].
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 28 (MED) Þanne by þe godspelle þet corn heþ þri stas, uor hit is uerst ase ine gerse, efterward ine yere, efterward is uol of frut.
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) vi. 136 We oughte to ryde nowe..while the corne is in the eere.
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. ix. 31 Barley was in the ear . View more context for this quotation
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) i. 55 The Barley anticipating the Wheat,..might be in Ear in February.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 385 My wheat was putting out into ear when I sent weeders to weed it.
1776 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 66 282 The summers are often so unkindly, that their wheat is blighted while in ear.
1841 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 2 i. 141 Both crops came into ear at the same time.
1884 W. Michell Gospel Story (ed. 2) I. v. 297 It was only when the wheat was in the ear that the servants perceived the mischief that had been done.
1996 M. Ealey tr. A. Yoshimura Shipwrecks 9 When the eulalia grass came into ear.
1996 S. Laizer Martyrs, Traitors & Patriots iii. 35 The wheat was in ear, but many harvesters were still inoperative.

Compounds

ear corn n. North American maize; spec. maize with the grain remaining on the cob.
ΚΠ
1825 Amer. Farmer 9 Dec. 299/2 Having had some ear-corn crushed in the common way, at a neighbouring mill.
1872 E. Eggleston End of World xx. 140 Put a bushel of ear-corn in the great wash-boiler.
1939 Monthly Labor Rev. Apr. 1001 The unloading of ear corn from wagons to cribs has been much more largely mechanized than the husking.
2013 J. Lazor Org. Grain Grower xviii. 402/1 Feed your pigs as much ear corn as they will eat through the month of September.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† earn.3

Forms: Middle English yere, 1600s eare, 1600s–1700s ear.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: ear v.1
Etymology: < ear v.1The following example has sometimes been taken as showing earlier use of this word, but this is very unlikely:?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 134 Þai..Þat lafful men doþ robbi..And þos hoblurs namelich Þat husbond benimeþ eri of grund—Men ne schold ham biri in non chirch, Bot cast ham vte as a hund.The most recent editor of the text ( A. Lucas Anglo-Irish Poems of Middle Ages (1995)) interprets eri as a form of eerie adj. (in sense ‘timid’) modifying husbond.
Obsolete.
The action of ploughing; a spell of ploughing. Chiefly attributive, as ear-land, ear-time. Cf. earing n.1See also ear-grass n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > [noun]
eartheOE
earingOE
ploughing1374
fallowing1426
labouragec1475
ardagh1483
eara1500
fallowa1500
arder1581
waining1585
stitch1600
caruage1610
furrow1610
till1647
aration1663
bouting1733
breast-ploughing1754
prairie-breaking1845
sodbusting1965
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 17 (MED) At yere tyme I sew fayre corn.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. x. 48 Hee shall giue the second eare vnto those his grounds that are most barren.
1693 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis (new ed.) 516 Ear-land, arvum.
1708 W. Sewel Large Dict. Eng. & Dutch i. 161/2 Ear-land, zaai-land, bouw land.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

† earn.4

Origin: Of unknown origin.
Etymology: Origin unknown.
English regional (south-western). Obsolete.
A place where sluices prevent the influx of the tide. Eng. Dial. Dict. (1899) notes that this word is ‘known, but not in common use now’ (as reported by the Rev. Wadham Pigott Williams of Somerset, who did not include it in his Gloss. Somersetshire (1873)).
ΚΠ
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I Ear, a place where hatches prevent the influx of the tide. Somerset.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 270 Ear, a west-country term for a place where hatches prevent the influx of the tide.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

earv.1

Brit. /ɪə/, U.S. /ɪ(ə)r/
Forms: Old English ærian (rare), Old English erian, Old English herian (rare), early Middle English ærie, Middle English arre, Middle English eere, Middle English er, Middle English erie, Middle English erre, Middle English erye, Middle English eyr, Middle English herd (past participle), Middle English here, Middle English herie, Middle English–1600s ayre, Middle English–1600s ere, 1500s eire, 1500s–1700s eare, 1500s– ear, 1600s–1700s are; Scottish pre-1700 air, pre-1700 are, pre-1700 eir, pre-1700 ere, pre-1700 eyr, pre-1700 eyre, pre-1700 1700s–1800s ear, pre-1700 1800s are. N.E.D. (1891) also records a form Middle English eiere.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian era, ara, ēra, Middle Dutch ēren, erien (Dutch eren, †eriën), Middle Low German ēren, Old High German erren, erien (Middle High German eren, ern, early modern German aren), Old Icelandic erja, Swedish regional ärje, Danish †ærje, Gothic arjan < the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek ἀροῦν, classical Latin arāre, Early Irish airid, all in the sense ‘to plough’.Originally a Germanic strong verb (of uncertain class), traces of which are securely evidenced in Old High German and Middle High German (and perhaps also in Gothic); in the other Germanic languages the verb is always weak. In Old English a weak verb of Class I; analogical weak Class II forms are sometimes found (e.g. past tense erode beside expected erede ; compare quot. OE at sense 1a). In Old English the prefixed form geerian to plough (the ground) (compare y- prefix) is also attested; compare also onerian to plough up (compare on- prefix).
1.
a. transitive. To plough, till (the ground). Also: to turn up (the ground) or throw up (an object) with a plough. Now rare (archaic and regional).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > plough (land) [verb (transitive)]
eareOE
till1377
plough1423
break1499
sheugh1513
ayrec1540
to break up1557
furrow1576
spit1648
whelm1652
manage1655
hack1732
thorough1733
to plough in1764
rout1836
eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) xiv. 4 Þeah he micel age goldes..and him mon erigen scyle æghwelce dæg æcera ðusend.
OE Ælfric Homily (Cambr. Ii.4.6) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1967) I. 363 Þæt wæter sona gewende of ðam fixnoþe, and wæs se mere awend to widgillum felda, swa þæt man erode [c1175 Bodl. 343 erode] ealne þone fixnoð.
lOE Bounds (Sawyer 653) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 156 Þonon synt þær manega hylla þæ man erien mæg.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 4 (MED) I haue an half Aker to herie [c1400 B text erye, C text eren] bi the heiȝe weye; Weore he wel I-Eried þenne with ou wolde I Wende.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. l. 184 To tile a feeld, me most..ere hit vp bydene.
c1450 (c1350) Alexander & Dindimus (Bodl.) (1929) 201 For ȝe non erþe ne eren.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. viii. 140 And with ane hundreth plewis the land he aryt.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Hi After that he tempereth it with dong, than eareth it, soweth it, and haroweth it.
1577 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Islande Brit. ii. xvii. f. 92v/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I A siluer saucer..eared vp by a plough.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 505 When you ere it [the ground] vp with the plough.
1607 J. Norden Surueyors Dialogue 181 A plow will ayre an Acre a day.
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xxx. 24 The oxen likewise and the yong asses that eare the ground. View more context for this quotation
1621 R. Bolton Statutes Ireland 10 Labourers..to ere the ground.
1660 Forbes Baron Court Bk. in Publ. Sc. Hist. Soc. (1919) 2nd Ser. 19 226 That no tennentis..eir nor labour hauch nor medow ȝeird that hes nocht bein labourit abefor.
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. To Ear or Are, to till, plough or fallow the Ground.
1760 G. Baretti Dict. Eng. & Ital. Lang. I Deliráre,..to go astray as oxen in earing the field.
1801 J. Leyden in Complaynt Scotl. Gloss. 306 To are the fields, is a phrase of common use among the peasants in the south of Scotland, and signifies to till.
1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 83 But if you'll ear the soil For wheaten harvest.
1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlix. 270 Gin we wunt the rigs, we're free o' the cost an' tribble o' earin' them.
1889 C. M. Yonge Cunning Woman's Grandson ix. 105 Those ridges of hill that make that part of Somerset seem as if..‘eared with a sull’.
2004 R. Scruton News from Somewhere i. 8 Some old Wiltshire characters still speak of ‘earing’ the fields.
†b. intransitive. To use a plough; to till the ground. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > plough (of person) [verb (intransitive)]
eareOE
ploughc1450
to be at the ploughc1535
to take stitch1600
to plough out1643
to plough upa1895
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxix. 285 For ciele nele se slawa erian [L. arare] on wintra.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xii. 531 Him com to heofonlic mete, ne hi ne eredon, ne ne teolodon, ne heora reaf næs farwered [read forwered], binnan þam feowertigum gearum.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 196 Ȝef þe axe ne kurue..ne þe sulh ne erede, hwa kepte ham to halden?
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 5002 Heo gunnen to ærien [c1300 Otho herie].
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 492 Hii..herede [c1425 Harl. erede] & sewe, So þat in a lute stounde gode cornes hom grewe.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) Judges xiv. 18 If ȝee haddyn not erid in my sche calf [L. si non arassetis in vitula mea].
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 74/4 The oxen erid in the ploughe.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Cor. ix. 10 That he which eareth should ear in hope.
1597 in S. Ree Rec. Elgin (1908) II. 54 Ane ox in the pleuche that this Spank was earand with.
a1640 T. Risdon Chorogr. Surv. Devon (1811) (modernized text) §77 78 Plough with a golden coulter, And eare with a gilded shere.
1766 A. Nicol Poems Several Subj. 79 They need not sow, nor could they ear.
†2. transitive. figurative and in extended use. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 28 I wolde haue toold fully..But al that thyng I moot as now forbere I haue..a large feeld to ere.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 271/3 With the plough of his tonge erye the feldes unresonable.
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos ii. sig. F.ij Long pilgrimage you haue to pas, huge feelde of seas to eare.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne i. xiv. 22 The field of loue, with plow of vertue eared.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. iv. 49 Menacrates and Menas..makes the Sea serue them, which they eare and wound With keeles.
1888 G. Young tr. Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus in tr. Sophocles Dramas 268 Your father slew his father; eared the soil Whence his own seedling sprouted.

Derivatives

† ˈearer n. Obsolete a ploughman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > [noun] > ploughman or woman
earthlingOE
ploughman1223
earmana1250
ploughswain1296
earera1382
plougher?1518
balker1549
scratcher1557
bawker1591
plough-jogger1600
plough-jobber1667
plough woman1783
tailsman1867
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxviii. 24 Whether al day shal ere the erere [L. arans], that he sowe.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 141 Eryar of londe, arator.
1534 Epist. Olde Test. Amos ix. in Bible (Tyndale) (new ed.) f. cccxcvi Beholde ye dayes will come sayth the lorde that the earer shall ouertake ye reper & treader of grapes ye sower of seed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

earv.2

Brit. /ɪə/, U.S. /ɪ(ə)r/
Forms: Middle English eere, Middle English ere, 1500s–1600s eare, 1700s– ear.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: ear n.2
Etymology: < ear n.2 Compare earlier eared adj.3
intransitive. Of wheat, maize, and other cereals: to produce ears, to come into ear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [verb (intransitive)] > grow or produce parts (of plants)
grain1390
ear1442
spindle1577
to run to straw1660
tassel out1757
spean1829
spane1843
silk1878
1442 (?c1400) Three Kings Cologne (BL Add. 36983) (1886) 164 To ere [c1450 Cambr. Ee.4.32 atte cristemasse barlich bygynneþ eere].
1550 T. Nicolls tr. Thucydides Hist. Peloponnesian War iv. i. f. xcvii The corne begynneth to eare.
1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Victory in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 56 Thou with corn canst make this stone to eare.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia vi. 239 The stalke was first set, began to eare ere it came to halfe growth, and the last not like to yeeld any thing at all.
1776 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 66 373 The barley..not earing well on account of the dry season.
1856 New Jersey Farmer Sept. 8/1 Most of his corn remained green, and appeared to be earing well.
1931 C. Day Lewis From Feathers to Iron 23 That golden seed extends Beneath the sun-eye, the father, To ear at the earth's ends.
1949 Climatol. Data: Mich. (U.S. Dept. Commerce. Weather Bureau) 64 126 Early in August corn tasseled and began earing well.
2012 Southeast Fram Press (Nexis) 22 Aug. Some corn has not eared well and others have a low silage yield, but a high grain yield.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

earv.3

Brit. /ɪə/, U.S. /ɪ(ə)r/
Forms: see ear n.1
Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: ear n.1, hear v.
Etymology: < ear n.1, although some instances in sense 1 may show a variant of hear v.
1. transitive. To heed, hear, give ear to. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > hear [verb (transitive)] > listen to
listenc950
hearOE
hearkenc1000
listc1175
to-heara1250
tend1340
attenda1400
to lay ear toa1400
receivea1425
intenda1500
ear1582
exhause1599
auscultate1892
catch1906
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 82 You Gods..Eare this; I doe craue you.
a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) iii. i. 30 Thou knew'st..I ear'd her language. View more context for this quotation
1967 M. D. Faber in Fiddlehead Fall 69 And yet for others, city bred, And long acquainted with the thing like me, There is no racking chaos to withstand; As calm as pigeons picking snow they ear The gouged crescendo, time their move, And take their seats, and fold their hands.
2. transitive. To fit (an object) with ears or handles. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1851 C. Cist Sketches & Statistics Cincinnati 181 [The staves] are then..eared and handled.
1907 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 27 Aug. 3362/2 A pair of ear affixing dies, in combination with a chuck plate adapted to receive the pail to be eared.
1913 Southwestern Reporter 151 862/1 One to bring buckets to the machine to be eared, and one to carry away and stack same after they are eared.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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