How to use listen in a sentence
40 example sentences · verb, noun
Listen means to use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound. Example: “Please listen carefully as I explain.”
Examples of listen by meaning
verbTo use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to...
- Please listen carefully as I explain.
- I could hear you talking upstairs, but I didn’t really listen to your conversation.
- He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01
verbTo accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
- Listen, the only reason I yelled at you was because I was upset, OK?
- Good children listen to their parents.
nounAn instance of listening.
- Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.
- The diss song, “Back to Back,” now has more than 124 million listens, a sign that the streaming can attract a sizable audience for a single track.2016 March 29, Victor Luckerson, “There's a New Way To Listen To All the Remixes You Want”, in Time, archived from the original on 25 Jun...
- I hadn't spoken to her in a year, but she could still see my listens on the music platform we both used.2020, Emily Segal, Mercury Retrograde, New York: Deluge Books, →ISBN
More sentences with listen
- He went all honest on me, making me listen to his confession.From the entry on
- She was listening to the radio when he knocked on the door.From the entry radio
- Don’t just talk at someone; really listen to what they have to say.From the entry at
- Listen, brother, I don't know what you want, but I’m not interested.From the entry brother
- A sidewalk preacher gave an impassioned sermon while an assistant leafleted those who stayed to listen.From the entry leaflet
- I could hear them quarreling upstairs, but didn’t really listen to their argument.From the entry hear
- Look, I'm going to explain what to do, so you have to listen closely.From the entry look
- That girl has a wonderful voice; just listen to her blow!From the entry blow
- Listen, I'm a grown woman, and I don't have time to deal with your petty teenage drama.From the entry grown
- I used to listen to that song all the time, but it hits different(ly) now.From the entry hit
- Judy's eyes filled with concern as she listened to the news report.From the entry concern
- While sitting listening to the radio by the hour, she can drink brandy by the bucketful!From the entry by
- Stop your infernal rabbiting! Use proper words or nobody will listen to you!From the entry rabbit
- She was sitting in a jazz club, sipping wine and listening to a bass player's solo.From the entry club
- The difference between the tones is subtle, but you can hear it if you listen carefully.From the entry subtle
- Listening to his teeth grate all day long drives me mad.From the entry grate
- Listen to your voice go up at the end of a question.From the entry up
- You never listen to a word I say – you're impossible!From the entry impossible
- After lunch, we will all be in the main auditorium listening to the plenary.From the entry plenary
- Your voice is lush, Lucy! I could listen to it all day!From the entry lush
- If you listen carefully, you can hear the flutes mimicking the cello motive.From the entry motive
- The witness rehearsed the events of the night before for the listening detectives.From the entry rehearse
- Why don’t you just zip your lip? I’m tired of listening to you.From the entry zip one's lip
- I had another driveway moment today, this time listening to David Sedaris.From the entry driveway moment
- Nuts! They didn't even listen to what I had to say.From the entry nuts
- The mourners listened as the priest performed the burial service of long-time parishioner Wendy Stuart.From the entry burial
- This hook is so catchy that I can't stop listening to it!From the entry catchy
- Explaining things to you is of no use because you never listen.From the entry no use
- I often listen to the twitter of the birds in the park.From the entry twitter
- Man, I love sitting back and listening to some jived out G-funk!From the entry G-funk
- His latest song is such a bump, I can't stop listening to it on repeat.From the entry bump
- Students who do not listen in class will not play outside during recess.From the entry recess
Meaning of listen
- verb To use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
- verb To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
- noun An instance of listening.
Questions about listen in a sentence
- How do you use listen in a sentence?
- Listen is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Please listen carefully as I explain.”
- What is a short sentence with listen?
- “Good children listen to their parents.”
- What does listen mean?
- Listen means to use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: listen (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “How to use listen in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/listen. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.