hear
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- pronunciation:
- hir
- features:
- Note, Homophone Note, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
verb |
| inflections: |
hears, hearing, heard |
| definition 1: |
When you hear something, you take in sounds with your ears.
We couldn't see the ice cream truck, but we could hear its bells.Did you hear that dog barking in the middle of the night?
- antonyms:
- miss
- similar words:
- perceive, sense
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| definition 2: |
When you hear something, you find out about it from someone or something.
I heard that there will be no school on Friday.- synonyms:
- learn
- similar words:
- find out, receive, understand
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| definition 3: |
When you hear something like a song, a story, or a speech, you experience the whole thing using your ears.
I heard my favorite song on the radio this morning in the car.My parents were planning to hear the president's speech, but they missed it. |
| definition 4: |
If you hear, your brain has the ability to process sounds that come into your ears.
My grandfather's eyesight is still good, but he doesn't hear well these days. |
| definition 5: |
When you hear from someone, you get a phone call, message, or letter from them. If you hear about something, it means that somebody has reported or told you about it.
My mom was really happy to hear from her sister last night. They talked on the phone for an hour.Did you hear about the puppy that Alex got? He got it from the shelter yesterday.- similar words:
- speak with, talk to
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| related words: |
get, judge, mark |
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| 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.