Library / English Dictionary

HEAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: heard   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally

Example:

I see that you have been promoted

Synonyms:

discover; find out; get a line; get wind; get word; hear; learn; pick up; see

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Verb group:

find; see; witness (perceive or be contemporaneous with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hear"):

get the goods (discover some bad or hidden information about)

wise up (get wise to)

catch; trip up (detect a blunder or misstep)

ascertain (learn or discover with certainty)

discover; find (make a discovery)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They hear that there was a traffic accident

Sense 2

Meaning:

Receive a communication from someone

Example:

We heard nothing from our son for five years

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "hear" is one way to...):

pick up; receive (register (perceptual input))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Perceive (sound) via the auditory sense

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "hear" is one way to...):

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hear"):

catch; overhear; take in (hear, usually without the knowledge of the speakers)

catch; get (perceive by hearing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They will hear the duet

Derivation:

hearable (heard or perceptible by the ear)

hearing (the ability to hear; the auditory faculty)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Listen and pay attention

Example:

We must hear the expert before we make a decision

Synonyms:

hear; listen; take heed

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "hear" is one way to...):

center; centre; concentrate; focus; pore; rivet (direct one's attention on something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hear"):

incline (bend or turn (one's ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

hearer (someone who listens attentively)

hearing (the act of hearing attentively)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process

Example:

The case will be tried in California

Synonyms:

hear; try

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "hear" is one way to...):

examine; probe (question or examine thoroughly and closely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hear"):

rehear; retry (hear or try a court case anew)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

hearing (a session (of a committee or grand jury) in which witnesses are called and testimony is taken)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A type of osteogenesis imperfecta that is characterized by fractures and hearing loss.

(Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type IV, NCI Thesaurus)

So Beth tried it, and everyone pronounced it the most remarkable piano ever heard.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“If I can't see, I can hear a finger stirring. Business is business. Hold out your left hand. Boy, take his left hand by the wrist and bring it near to my right.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"It got half of it," he announced; "but I got a whack at it jes' the same. D'ye hear it squeal?"

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Current screening programmes for newborn babies are good at picking up moderate-to-profound levels of hearing loss, but not at detecting mild hearing loss.

(Mild-to-moderate hearing loss in children leads to changes in how brain processes sound, University of Cambridge)

However, at last it was agreed he should go, for he would not rest at home; and as he came to the wood, he met the fox, and heard the same good counsel.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Having to do with the ear and the sense of hearing.

(Auditory, NCI Dictionary)

The study of hearing and hearing impairment.

(Audiology, NCI Thesaurus)

Of or relating to the process of hearing.

(Auditory, NCI Thesaurus)

The science concerned with the normal processes of hearing

(Auditory Physiology, NCI Thesaurus)