Word.ws English Dictionary

have a word in someone's ear

have a word in someone's ear verb: to speak to someone in private.

Verb

have a word in someone's ear (third-person singular simple present has a word in someone's ear, present participle having a word in someone's ear, simple past and past participle had a word in someone's ear)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To speak to someone in private.
    • When you get a moment I'd like to have a word in your ear.
    Synonyms:
    have a quiet word, have a word in someone's shell-like

Synonyms of have a word in someone's ear

Forms of have a word in someone's ear

third-person singular presenthas a word in someone's ear
present participlehaving a word in someone's ear
past participlehad a word in someone's ear
pasthad a word in someone's ear

Questions about have a word in someone's ear

What does have a word in someone's ear mean?
Have a word in someone's ear means to speak to someone in private.
What part of speech is have a word in someone's ear?
Have a word in someone's ear is a verb.
What is the past tense of have a word in someone's ear?
The past tense of have a word in someone's ear is had a word in someone's ear.

Words near have a word in someone's ear in the dictionary

  1. have a visual on
  2. have a way with
  3. have a whack at
  4. have a whale of a time
  5. have a word
  6. have a word in someone's ear
  7. have a word with oneself
  8. have against
  9. have an accident
  10. have an affair
  11. have an easy time of it

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have a word in someone's ear (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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