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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

ear

/ˈɪɚ/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
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What does ear mean?

noun

  1. The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
  2. The external part of the organ of hearing, the auricle.
  3. (slang) A police informant.
More meanings (16)

noun

  1. The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; skill or good taste in listening to music.
  2. The privilege of being kindly heard; favour; attention.
  3. That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; a prominence or projection on an object, usually for support or attachment; a lug; a handle; a foot-rest or step of a spade or a similar digging tool.
  4. An acroterium.
  5. A crossette.
  6. A space to the left or right of a publication's front-page title, used for advertising, weather, etc.
  7. A curled ridge in the crust of a loaf of bread where the dough was slashed before going into the oven and expands during baking.
  8. The outer panels or flaps (protrusions) of a diaper upon which the fasteners are located, which are fastened around the wearer's waist.
  9. A path whose endpoints may coincide but in which otherwise there are no repetitions of vertices or edges.
  10. The fruiting body of a grain plant.
  11. Initialism of Enterprise Application Archive, a file format used to package Java applications.
  12. Initialism of estimated average requirements.

verb

  1. (humorous) To take in with the ears; to hear.
  2. To hold by the ears.
  3. To put forth ears in growing; to form ears, as grain does.
  4. (archaic) To plough.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈɪɚ/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ˈiɚ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Almost before he had ceased speaking, Oak was seized with a misgiving as to whose ear was the recipient of his answer.
Thomas HardyFar from the Madding CrowdProject Gutenberg ebook #27
By this time he was far down Meadow Lane, and the bell for school to “take up” tinkled faintly upon his ear.
Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer, CompleteProject Gutenberg ebook #74
More book examples (3)
Whatever she did, too, was done without conscious effort, and with frequent outbreaks of song, which were exceedingly pleasant to the ear.
Nathaniel HawthorneThe House of the Seven GablesProject Gutenberg ebook #77
To report otherwise were a malice that, giving itself the lie, would pluck reproof and rebuke from every ear that heard it.
William ShakespeareThe Complete Works of William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg ebook #100
In the pause which succeeded, a sound like receding footsteps and the closing of a distant door struck on her affrighted ear.
Jane AustenNorthanger AbbeyProject Gutenberg ebook #121