hear
- pronunciation:
- hir
- parts of speech:
- transitive verb, intransitive verb
- features:
- Note, Homophone Note, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
transitive verb |
| inflections: |
hears, hearing, heard |
| definition 1: |
to perceive with the ears.
- antonyms:
- miss
- similar words:
- perceive, sense
|
| definition 2: |
to be informed about; learn.
I heard he was coming back to town.- synonyms:
- learn
- similar words:
- find out, receive, understand
|
| definition 3: |
to listen to carefully.
Did you really hear what he told you?- synonyms:
- listen to
- similar words:
- heed
|
| definition 4: |
to give formal audience to, esp. in a court of law.
The judge wouldn't hear our case.- similar words:
- adjudicate, consider, try
|
| related words: |
arbitrate, examine, get, judge, mark |
|
|
| part of speech: |
intransitive verb |
| definition 1: |
to have the ability to perceive sound.
|
| definition 2: |
to receive information or greetings from another.
He heard from his sister yesterday.- similar words:
- learn, speak with, talk to
|
| definition 3: |
to listen with agreement or consent (usu. fol. by of).
He would not hear of my paying the check.- synonyms:
- agree to, consent to, stand for, tolerate
- similar words:
- approve, consider
|
| derivation: |
hearer (n.) |
hear or listen?
We use
hear when we are talking about the action of our ears as they receive sound. If a sound is loud enough and our ears can function, then we
hear it. We use
listen when we decide to hear something and then pay attention to it. But there is another meaning of
hear, which is
to experience something by using your ears. This meaning of
hear may seem similar to the meaning of
listen and can be confusing. When you
listen to something, you are simply paying attention to the sounds that come to your ears, but when you
hear something (in this meaning) you get knowledge and experience of a whole event, such as a song, a concert, a recording. If you've
heard something, you know it and you can now talk about it.
Compare:
- We can hear our neighbor's music in our apartment.
- Come and listen to this song!
- I can hear their conversation, but I'm not listening to it.
- I never listen to the weather report.
- We went to the theater to hear a concert.
Are you looking for the word
here (in this place)?
Hear and
here sound alike but have different meanings.