all ears
Listening intently; fully focused or awaiting an explanation.
Ears · Tai 98
Related topics: Historical slang (1800s) House & home Eyes Body-part idioms Wolves Pigs Donkeys & camels Belly & guts Head Family Dogs Legs
cheers, big ears
Synonym of cheers (“thank you; or a drinking toast”).
cute as a bug's ear
Very cute; adorable.
dumbo ear
A prominent or protruding ear.
ear
A police informant.
ear hustle
To eavesdrop.
ear rape
Highly unpleasant or cacophonous sounds or music.
fell on deaf ears
Was ignored; people refused to listen.
gender is between your ears, not between your legs
Gender only exists as a social construct, and is not confined to one's sex assigned at birth.
get out of someone's ear
To stop bothering someone.
helicopter ear
A form of Helmholtz resonance experienced in a moving vehicle, when one of the windows is rolled down.
I'm all ears
You have my full attention; I am listening eagerly.
lend an ear
Listen to someone sympathetically or attentively.
pitchers have ears
Synonym of walls have ears.
play it by ear
To improvise; to decide how to act as the situation develops.
put a bug in his ear
To give someone a hint or suggestion, hoping they will act on it.
wet behind the ears
Inexperienced.
you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear
It is not possible to produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value.
all eyes and ears
Completely attentive and observant
are your ears burning
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
beat someone round the ears
to scold or criticize someone severely
believe one's ears
To be unable to believe what one is hearing
bend someone's ear
to talk to someone at length, often about a problem
boeotian ears
Ears unable to appreciate music or rhetoric. Well, friend, I assure thee thou hast not got Boeotian ears [because you can appreciate the beauties of my sermons], — LE SAGE: Gil Bias, vii, 3.
bow down thine ear
Condescend to hear or listen (Ps. xxxi, 2).
box someone's ears
to hit or slap someone's ears as punishment
burn someone's ears
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
by ear
To sing or play by ear rreans to sing or play without reading the musical notes, depending on the ear only.
Choose a wife rather by your ear than your eye. (Strauss, 1994 p. 655)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
Dionysius's Ear
A bell-shaped chamber connected by an underground passage with the king's palace. Its object was to enable the tyrant of Syracuse to overhear what was passing in the prison.
dog’s ears
The curled corners of the leaves of books, which have been carelessly treated. The use of this term is so common that it is hardly to be considered slang.
donkey's ears
Someone who is considered annoying or talkative
dry behind the ears
fully mature and responsible
ear to the ground
informed about the latest news or gossip
ear tunnel
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
ears are burning
feeling like someone is talking about you
eyes and ears
A person who observes and listens carefully
flea in one's ear
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! (William Shakespeare)
Listen to what I have to say
give ear
Listen to someone or something
go in one ear and out the other
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
have a word in someone's ear
to speak privately with someone
have one's ears lowered
to be scolded or rebuked
have one's ears pinned back
to be thoroughly defeated or reprimanded
have the wolf by the ear
To have a problem or situation under control but with difficulty
have Van Gogh's ear for music
to have no musical talent
holding a wolf by the ears
An old Greek saying; Augustus used it of his situation in Rome, meaning it was equally dangerous to keep hold or to let go.
I am all ear
All attention. I was all ear, And took in strains that might create a soul Under the ribs of death.
in at one ear and out at the other. (14th century)
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
inner ear
A part of the ear that helps with balance and hearing
issachar's ears
Ass's ears. The allusion is to Gen. xlix, 14: "Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens." Is't possible that you, whose ears Are of the tribe of Issachar's . . . Should yet be deaf against a noise So roaring as the public voice?
Jenkins's Ear
The name given to an incident that helped largely to bring about the war between England and Spain in 1739 that eventually developed into the War of the
jenkins's ears
On reaching London Jenkins carried his complaint (and his severed ear in a leather case) to the king and demanded reparation. At the tune little notice was taken of the incident, but some years later, in 1738, the matter was brought up again, Jenkins and his ear were examined by a committee of the House of Commons and his case became an added grieyance to the many others that culminated in war.
jew's ear
A fungus that grows on the Judas-tree G?.v.); its name is due to a mis- translation of its Latin name, Auricula Judce, i.e. Judas's ear.
jug ears
Having very large ears
keep one's ears open
Listen carefully for information or opportunities
lend me your ears
Pay attention to what I am about to say. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
little pitchers have big ears
Children often overhear and understand more than adults think.
Little pitchers have big ears. (Strauss 1994, p. 653)
Children often overhear and understand more than adults think
little pitchers have large ears
See PITCHER. Mine ears hast thou bored. Thou hast accepted me as thy bond-slave for life. If a Hebrew servant declined to go free after six years* service, the master was to bore his ear with an awl, in token of his voluntary servi- tude for life (Exod. xxi, 6).
little pitchers have long ears
Little folk or children hear what is said when you little think it. The ear of a pitcher is the handle, made somewhat in the shape of a man's ear.
make a pig's ear of
To completely mess something up
make a silk purse of a sow's ear
To create something valuable from something of poor quality
make someone's ears sad
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
mind's ear
The ability to imagine or recall sounds
music to someone's ears
Something very pleasing or welcome to hear
no ear
A bad ear for music, "ear-blind" or "sound-blind.
not dry behind the ears
As innocent as a new-born child. When young animals are born, the last place to become dry after birth is the small depression behind each ear.
over head and ears
Wholly, desperately; said of being in love, debt, trouble, etc.
pig's ear
Beer.
play by ear
to act or decide spontaneously without a plan
pour honey in one's ear
to flatter or try to influence someone with kind words
preach to deaf ears
To advise or try to persuade someone who refuses to listen
put a bug in someone's ear
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
set by the ears
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
smile from ear to ear
To smile very widely, showing great happiness
spock ears
Ears that are shaped like those of the Star Trek character Mr. Spock
Take heed what you say. Walls have ears. (James Shirley)
Be careful what you say, as others may be listening
take the wax out of one's ears
to listen and pay attention
talk out of one's ear
to talk nonsense or foolishly
talk someone's ear off
To talk to someone excessively and boringly
the ass waggeth his ears
This proverb is applied to those who lack learning, and yet talk as if they were very wise; men wise in their own conceit. The ass, proverbial for having no "taste for music," will nevertheless wag its ears at a "concord of sweet sounds," just as if it could well appreciate it.
the belly has no ears
A hungry man will not listen to advice or arguments. The Romans had the same proverb, Venter non habet aures; and in French, Venire affame rfa point d'oreilles.
The Ears to Ear Bible
An edition of 1810, in which Matt, xiii, 43, reads: "Who hath ears to ear, let him hear.
tickle the ear
To please or gratify someone's hearing
to cock the ears
To prick up the ears, or turn them as a horse does when he listens to a strange sound.
to come to the ears of
To come to someone's knowledge, especially by hearsay. To get the wrong sow by the ear. See Sow.
to fall together by the ears
To fight and scratch each other; to contend in strife. See EAR.
to prick up one's ears
To listen attentively to something not expected, as horses prick up their ears at a sudden sound.
to tickle the ears
To gratify the ear either by pleasing sounds or flattering words.
to turn a deaf ear
To refuse to listen; to refuse to accede to a request. Walls have ears. See WALL.
turn a deaf ear
To intentionally ignore or refuse to listen to something
up on one's ear
completely upset or shocked
up to one's ears
Extremely busy or deeply involved
walls have ears
Be careful what you say, as others may be listening.
walls have ears
Things uttered in secret get rumoured abroad; there are listeners everywhere, and you'd better be careful. Certain rooms in the Louvre were said to be so C9nstructed in the time of Catherine de' Medicis, that what was said in one room could be distinctly heard in an9ther. It was by this contrivance that the suspicious queen became acquainted with state secrets and plots. The tubes of communication were called the auriculaires. Cp.
wooden ear
unresponsive or uncooperative
you cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear
You cannot create something valuable from something of poor quality