ear

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A box on the ear is a box on the ear, and two of them are two!

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Definitions (84)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (24)

  1. noun Anatomy The vertebrate organ of hearing, responsible for maintaining equilibrium as well as sensing sound and divided in mammals into the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.
  2. noun Anatomy The part of this organ that is externally visible.
  3. noun An invertebrate organ analogous to the mammalian ear.
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Examples (50)

  • Chinese sage Confucius said of himself: "At 30, I took my stand; at 40, I no longer had doubts; at 50, I knew the will of the heavens; at 60, my ear was attuned; at 70, I follow all the desires of my heart without breaking any rule." —  Asia Times Online
  • But the strident one that's caught my ear is the unfolding Sarah Palin, who is a kind of Dubya in disguise. —  rashbre central
  • Placing it right against your ear is audibly clear but not loud. —  Everything Treo
  • Damage to the ear is usually the cause of tinnitus. —  xml's Blinklist.com
  • The shattering of the old paradigm was loud and shrill enough to cause permanent damage to the ears of some heroes, and as the ear is the centre of balance, the psychological disequilibrium that followed cast many costumed crusaders onto the grimy, vomit-streaked barroom floors of their careers and personal lives. —  Ecstatic Days
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

eye ·  lip ·  shoulder ·  voice ·  heart ·  throat ·  hair ·  skin ·  finger ·  breast ·  tooth ·  tongue

Used in the same contextWord Family

ear:   ears
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (8)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English ere, from Old English ēare; see ous- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English ere, from Old English ēar; see ak- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (6)

  1. Early modern English eare; from Middle English ere, ire, eare, from Anglo-Saxon eáre = Old Saxon ōrā = OFries. āre, ār = Dutch oor = Middle Low German Low German ōr = Old High German ōrā, Middle High German ōre, ōr, German ohr = Icelandic eyra = Swedish öra = Danish öre = Gothic (Moesogothic) auso = Latin auris (diminutive auricula, Middle Latin oricula, later Italian orecchia = Spanish oreja = Portuguese orelha = Provencal aurelha = French oreille, ear, = English auricle: see auricle, auricular, etc.) = Greek οὐ̄ς (ὠτ-), also οὐ̄ας (οὐατ-), for *οὐ̄σος (οὐσατ-) = Old Bulgarian Bulgarian Croatian, Servian ucho = Bohemian Polish ucho = Russian ukho = Lithuanian ausis = Old Prussian ausins (plural accusative), ear; a general Indo-European name, prob. allied to Greek αίειν, hear, perceive, Latin audire, hear: see audience, audit, etc., auscultate, etc. Connection with hear doubtful: see hear.
  2. from ear, n.
  3. Early modern English also eare; from Middle English ere, ear, from Anglo-Saxon eár), contr. of orig. *eahor = Old Northumbrian eher, æhher = Middle Dutch aere, Dutch aar = Middle Low German ār, are, Low German ār = Old High German ahir, ehir, Middle High German eher, German ähre = Icelandic Swedish Danish ax = Gothic (Moesogothic) ahs, an ear, = Latin acus (acer-, orig. *acis-), chaff (see acerose); connected with Gothic (Moesogothic) ahana, chaff, = English awn; Anglo-Saxon egl, a beard of grain, English dial. ail; Latin acus (acu-), a needle; Latin acies = Anglo-Saxon ecge, English edge, etc.: see awn, ail, acus, aculeate, aglet, edge, egg.
  4. Early modern English also eare; from Middle English eren, erien, from Anglo-Saxon erian = OFries. era = Middle Dutch eren, eeren, errien, aeren = Middle Low German eren = Old High German erran, Middle High German eren, ern, German dial. ären, eren = Icelandic erja = Swedish ärja = Gothic (Moesogothic) arjan = Latin arare (whence English arable, q. v.) = Greek ἀρόειν, ἀροῡν = Irish araim = Old Bulgarian Servian Bohemian orati = Russian oratĭ = Lithuanian arti = Lettish art, plow.
  5. Scots, from Middle English er, ær, ear, etc., early, usually ere, before: see ere and early.
  6. English dial., by misdivision of a near, a kidney, as an ear: see near and kidney.
 

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