hear

CEFRA1

/ˈhɪə/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To notice sounds with your ears.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To exercise this faculty intentionally; to listen to.

Examples

  • He would be glad to hear that.

  • Listen! What's that noise? Can you hear it?

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈhiː/
  • /heː(ɹ)/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To perceive (a sound, or something producing a sound) with the ear, to recognize (something) in an auditory way.

  2. To perceive sounds through the ear.

  3. To listen favourably to; to grant (a request etc.).

More examples

In context

  • Most people only want to hear their own truth.

  • Eventually the king chose to hear her entreaties.

  • I could hear them quarreling upstairs, but didn’t really listen to their argument.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She put her ear to the door to blank what was happening inside.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English heren, from Old English hīeran (“to hear”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hauzijaną (“to hear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱh₂owsyéti (“to be sharp-eared”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) + *h₂ows- (“ear”) + *-yéti (denominative suffix). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian heere (“to hear”), West Frisian hearre (“to hear”), Dutch horen (“to hear”), German hören (“to hear”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål høre (“to hear”), Norwegian Nynorsk høyra (“to hear”), Swedish höra (“to hear”), Icelandic heyra (“to hear”), Ancient Greek ἀκούω (akoúō, “to hear”).