ear
Word family adjectiveearedearlessear-splittingearwiggynounearfulearingearacheearbasherearbashingearbobearbudeardropeardrumearflapearlapearlobeearlockearmarkearmuffsearphoneearpickearpieceearplugearringearshotearwaxearwigearwiggingearverbearbash
Human, Crops, Music
ear /ɪə $ ɪr/ ●●● S2 W2 noun 1 
part of your body 身体部位 [countableC]HBHHBA one of the organs on either side of your head that you hear with 耳，耳朵
part of your body 身体部位 [countableC]HBHHBA one of the organs on either side of your head that you hear with 耳，耳朵 She tucked her hair behind her ears.
她把头发拢到耳朵背后。
long-eared/short-eared etc
a long-eared rabbit
长耳兔
2 grain 谷物 [countableC]TAC the top part of a plant such as wheat that produces grain 穗
ear of
an ear of corn
玉米穗
3 smile/grin etc from ear to ear SMILEto show that you are very happy or pleased by smiling a lot 咧着嘴笑，眉开眼笑
She came out of his office, beaming from ear to ear.
她走出他的办公室，笑得合不拢嘴。
Examples from the Corpus
smile/grin etc from ear to ear• Father smiled from ear to ear, and he and I both ate like fiends.• Standing at the kitchen counter, shuffling his feet to the music, he caught himself smiling from ear to ear.• Randolph, smiling from ear to ear, quickly dressed into warm clothes and set out towards the toy factory.• He was grinning from ear to ear and pointing his finger up to the flies.
4 reach somebody’s ears if something reaches someone’s ears, they hear about it or find out about it 传到某人耳朵里
The news eventually reached the ears of the king.
消息最终传到了国王耳朵里。
5 to somebody’s ears used when saying how something sounds to someone 在某人听来
It sounds odd to the ears of an ordinary English speaker.
这在一般说英语的人听来怪怪的。
6 APM[singular] the ability to learn music, copy sounds etc 〔学习音乐、模仿声音等的〕听力；辨音能力
ear for
She has no ear for languages at all.
她对学习语言一点也不在行。
a good ear for dialogue
善于倾听
7 a sympathetic ear LISTENused to say that someone listens sympathetically to what someone is saying 同情地倾听
He’s always prepared to lend a sympathetic ear.
他总是愿意倾听别人的心声。
Examples from the Corpus
lend a sympathetic ear• He finds time for them, always being prepared to lend a sympathetic ear or give some friendly confidential advice.
8 close/shut your ears to something LISTENto refuse to listen to bad or unpleasant news 拒听坏消息[令人讨厌的消息]
You can’t just close your ears to their warnings.
→ turn a deaf ear at deaf(4), → fall on deaf ears at deaf(5) 你可不能对他们的警告置之不理。
Examples from the Corpus
close/shut your ears to something• At first, I closed my ears to what I did not want to hear.• She heard the boys hurling abuse at her, shouting to her to stop, but she shut her ears to them.• Don't close your ears to the world and don't give up.• Sometimes she even managed to shut her ears to the arguments going on around her.• Claudia sank down on to her bed and tried to shut her ears to the sound of him in the next room.• He tried to close his ears to the plea.• Rincewind tried to shut his ears to the grating voice beside him.• She wanted to close her ears to it.
9 be all ears informalINTERESTED to be very keen to hear what someone is going to tell you 全神贯注地听，洗耳恭听
As soon as I mentioned money, Karen was all ears.
我一提到钱，卡伦马上就竖起了耳朵。
Examples from the Corpus
be all ears• Go ahead, I'm all ears.• Tell me exactly what happened. I'm all ears.• Everyone was all ears as soon as I mentioned a cash prize.
10 be out on your ear informalLEAVE A JOB OR ORGANIZATION to be forced to leave a job, organization etc, especially because you have done something wrong 〔尤指因犯错〕被迫离职[退出某组织]
You’d better start working harder, or you’ll be out on your ear.
你最好开始加把劲，否则将被开除。
Examples from the Corpus
be out on your ear• He, of course, will be out on his ear.• Not at all: King went too far and was out on his ear in an overnight boardroom coup in 1968.• She was no more secure than she'd ever been - one mistake, and she'd be out on her ear!• If you keep taking two-hour lunches, you'll be out on your ear.
11. be up to your ears in work/debt/problems etc PROBLEMto have a lot of work etc 工作/债务/问题等很多
12 have something coming out (of) your ears informal to have too much of something 某物太多了
We’ve got pumpkins coming out our ears this time of year.
今年这段时间我们南瓜吃得太多了。
13. keep your/an ear to the ground FIND OUTto make sure that you always know what is happening in a situation 保持关注〔以确保知晓某事态的发展动向〕
Examples from the Corpus
keep your/an ear to the ground• I haven't heard any more news, but I'll keep my ear to the ground.
14 keep your ears open to always be listening in order to find out what is happening or to hear some useful information 时刻注意〔在发生的事或有用的信息〕
I hope you’ll all keep your eyes and ears open for anything unusual.
希望你们大家都能密切注意任何不寻常的事情。
Examples from the Corpus
keep your ears open• All of you - walk around Pentonville and keep your ears open.• They had a kid copper keeping his ears open.
15 go in (at) one ear and out (at) the other informalFORGET if information goes in one ear and out the other, you forget it as soon as you have heard it 左耳进，右耳出
I don’t know why I tell her anything. It just goes in one ear and out the other.
我干吗要告诉她呢，反正我的话她也只是当作耳边风。
Examples from the Corpus
go in (at) one ear and out (at) the other• It goes in one ear and out the other.
16 give somebody a thick ear British EnglishBrE informalHIT to hit someone on the ear 打耳光
Behave yourself or I’ll give you a thick ear!
规矩点，要不我抽你了！
17 have somebody’s ear TRUSTto be trusted by someone so that they will listen to your advice, opinions etc 获得某人信任，忠告[意见等]被某人接纳
He claimed to have the ear of several top ministers.
他声称自己在几位高级部长面前说话管用。
Examples from the Corpus
have somebody’s ear• He used to boast to his friends that he often had the President's ear.
18. play something by ear PLANto play music that you have heard without having to read written music 不看乐谱演奏乐曲 → see also play it by ear at play1(11)
Examples from the Corpus
play something by ear• He heard jazz records at home when very young and played piano by ear.• So each played it by ear, with resulting policy shifts that often appeared to be not only sudden but incomprehensible.• At 2, he played the piano by ear.• As he has no political party that can provide him with practical support, he is forced to play it by ear.• But the government is having to play it by ear.• Well, she would play it by ear.
19. somebody’s ears are burning DISCUSSused to say that someone thinks that people are talking about them 某人耳朵在发烫〔用于表示感到有人在背后议论自己〕
Examples from the Corpus
somebody’s ears are burning• I bet your ears were burning - Tom and I were just talking about you.• My ears are burning in the cold, but there's nothing I can do about it.
20. somebody’s ears are flapping British EnglishBrE spokenLISTEN used to say that someone is trying to listen to your private conversation 某人在设法偷听
→ dog-eared, → bend somebody’s ear at bend1(7), → send somebody off with a flea in their ear at flea(2), → make a pig’s ear of at pig1(5), → prick (up) your ears at prick1(5), → wet behind the ears at wet1(7) COLLOCATIONS
adjectives
big 大的
African elephants’ ears are bigger than those of Indian elephants.
非洲象的耳朵比印度象的大。
floppy (=soft and hanging down loosely, rather than being stiff) 耷拉的，松软下垂的
a rabbit with big floppy ears
一只耷拉着大耳朵的兔子
pointy/pointed 尖的
The dog has short pointy ears.
那狗的耳朵又短又尖。
npierced (=with a hole in the skin where an earring can be put)
Her new boyfriend’s got long hair and pierced ears.
somebody’s left/right ear 某人的左/右耳
She is deaf in her right ear.
她右耳聋了。
inner/middle ear (=the parts inside your ear, which you use to hear sounds) 内/中耳
verbsI’ve got an infection in my middle ear.
我中耳感染了。
say/whisper something into somebody’s ear 在某人耳边说/轻声说
He whispered something into his wife’s ear.
他在妻子耳边轻声说了几句。
have your ears pierced (=have a hole put into the skin, so that you can wear an earring) 扎耳洞
nI had my ears pierced when I was quite young.
somebody’s ears stick out (=they are noticeable because they do not lie flat against someone’s head) 某人长着招风耳
nIf my hair is too short, you can see that my ears stick out.
somebody’s ears pop (=the pressure in them changes suddenly, for example when you go up or down quickly in a plane) 某人突然耳胀〔如飞机快速上升或下降时〕
nMy ears finally popped when the plane landed.
Examples from the Corpus
ear• Well, she would play it by ear.• Pick up a few ears of corn for dinner tonight.• Gone her neat bun; her hair hung loose, tucked behind her ears.• The silence seemed to swell in her ears.• Simultaneously his ears unblocked and the world again became audible.• And then the day after we got our record contract, I went to Selfridges and had both my ears pierced.• And you never meant it for my ears, that's sure.• Stop shouting in my ear!• Shrugging the collar higher around tingling ears he thought of Carrie.
long-eared/short-eared etc• A medium-sized brown owl, the only one with long ear tufts, noticeably longer than Short-eared Owl's.
good ear• He had a good ear for language, and was a talented scholar, translator, and lyric poet.• She has tinnitus and he has one good ear, one bad.• I developed a pretty good ear, although I started out as a complete idiot.• Good public relations operators are not all mouth; they are also very good ears.
1. Old English eare
2. Old English ear
→COLLOCATIONS1