ear

UK/ˈɪə̯/US/ˈɪɚ/

nounA13 meanings Very common — you will meet it every day · #1,049 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: ears

Your ear is the part of the body you hear with. One on each side of your head.

The word means the hearing as much as the organ, so having a good ear means you can pick out a tune or an accent, and playing by ear means playing with no written music in front of you. English is thick with it — in one ear and out the other, all ears, keeping your ear to the ground. There is an unrelated farming sense too, since an ear of corn is the seed head at the top of the stalk.

ear — Genusfotografen (Tomas Gunnarsson) / Wikimedia Sverige · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of ear

1nounearThe organ of hearing on each side of the head.A1~85%
“He whispered something in her ear.”
2nounabilityAn ability to hear or judge sound well.B2~2%
“She has a good ear for languages.”
3nounseedThe seed head of a cereal plant.B2~13%
“The field was heavy with ears of wheat.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 15 sentences found in the wild and placed 15 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.

Phrases it lives in

play it by ear — decide as you go along, without a plan
all ears — listening eagerly, and ready to hear it

Where it comes from

The ear is named for what it does. A Proto-Indo-European root meaning to perceive gives Old English ēare and the word we still use.

Proto-Indo-European
*h₂ew-
Middle English
ere
English, today
ear

Built from

*h₂ew- · Proto-Indo-European — to perceive

From Middle English ere. From Middle English eare, eere, ere, eyr, ire, yere, ȝhere, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from Proto-West Germanic auʀā, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic ausô (“ear”), from Proto-Indo-European h₂ṓws (“ear”), from h₂ew- (“to perceive”). 2

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Body & Health, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 2 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

ear in the wild

Typically, only one ear is affected initially, but over time, both ears may become involved.
Ménière's disease
The hearing loss and ringing in the ears can become constant over time.
Ménière's disease
In young children, this may result in pulling at the ear, increased crying, and poor sleep.
Otitis media
Earrings are jewelry that are worn on one's ears.
Earring
In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.
Ear

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

Definitions of ear

1nounearThe organ of hearing on each side of the head.A1~85%

“He whispered something in her ear.”

2nounabilityAn ability to hear or judge sound well.B2~2%

“She has a good ear for languages.”

3nounseedThe seed head of a cereal plant.B2~13%

“The field was heavy with ears of wheat.”

Shares are an estimate: a language model read 15 sentences found in the wild and placed 15 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.