ears

Noun

ear (plural ears)

1. (countable) The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
2. (countable) The external part of the organ of hearing, the auricle.
   • Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
3. (countable, slang) A police informant.
   • No I'm not kidding, and if you don't give it to me I'll let it out that you’re an ear.1976, Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, Gail Morgan Hickman, The Enforcer
4. The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; skill or good taste in listening to music.
   • a good ear for music
5. The privilege of being kindly heard; favour; attention.
   • Dionysius[…]would give no ear to his suit.1625, Francis [Bacon], Apophthegmes New and Old. […], London: […] Hanna Barret, and Richard Whittaker, […], →OCLC
6. That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; a prominence or projection on an object, usually for support or attachment; a lug; a handle; a foot-rest or step of a spade or a similar digging tool.
   • the ears of a tub, skillet, or dish; The ears of a boat are outside kneepieces near the bow.

See all 17 meanings of ear