Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To make an effort to hear something: listen to the radio; listening for the bell.
- v. To pay attention; heed: "She encouraged me to listen carefully to what country people called mother wit” ( Maya Angelou).
- n. An act of listening: Would you like to give the CD a listen before buying it?
- listen in To listen to a conversation between others; eavesdrop.
- listen in To tune in and listen to a broadcast.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To attend closely with the design of hearing; give ear; harken; hence, to give heed; yield compliantly: as, to listen to reason.
- To hear; attend to; give heed to.
Wiktionary
- v. intransitive To pay attention to a sound, to note.
- v. intransitive To wait for a sound, such as a signal.
- v. intransitive To accept or obey oral instruction; to agree or assent.
- v. transitive, archaic To hear (something or someone), to pay attention to.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To give close attention with the purpose of hearing; to give ear; to hearken; to attend.
- v. To give heed; to yield to advice; to follow admonition; to obey.
- v. obsolete To attend to.
WordNet 3.0
- v. pay close attention to; give heed to
- v. hear with intention
- v. listen and pay attention
Etymologies
- From Middle English listnen, alteration (interpreted as frequentative of listen) from Old English hlysnan, from Proto-Germanic *hlūsinōnan (compare Middle High German lüsenen), from *hlusēnan (compare Old High German hlosēn), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”) (compare Ancient Greek κλαίω (klaiō, "I make known, famous"), Latin clueō ("I am famous"), Lithuanian klausýti, Old Church Slavonic слѹшати (slušati, "to hear"), Sanskrit śróṣati). Related to loud. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English listenen, alteration (influenced by listen, to list, listen. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I say, if you want to know where jazz is going, listen to a Bugge Wesseltoft record (it used to be _listen to a Miles Davis record_ but he's in heaven with Dizzy and the Duke). 5 solid stars.”
Latest reviews @ Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website
“While stating he is still in the * listen, listen, listen* mode and some specific goals remain to be established, Bradley noted enrollment is job one at Indiana State and he has already formed an Enrollment and Retention Task Force to develop five to 10 ways to impact enrollment and retention by fall 2009.”
“One of the first questions I ask when I look at a communication plan is, How long does it take before you see the word listen?”
“Your word, "listen", is a good one, especially the artist's need to listen to self.”
“Why would anyone who has half a brain listen to Sarah Palin?”
“Why would anyone with even half a brain listen to these hypocrits?”
“Only reason I listen is my wife thinks hes cute, we even play a version of “Slug Bug” where you get to pinch the other persons butt everytime he says it ...”
“Only reason I listen is my wife thinks hes cute, we even play a version of “Slug Bug” where you get to pinch the other persons butt everytime he saysit ...”
“I mean, seriously .. how can anyone with a brain listen to one statement I heard long ago without laughing? ..”
Wonk Room » CNBC: Unemployment Benefits Are A ‘Fraud,’ We’re ‘Paying People Not To Work’
“The entire debate, for those who listen, is about controlling rising costs and increasing access for those without coverage.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘listen’.
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PHIL - vocabulary of thinking
philosophy, Socratic, dialogue, philosopher, Athenian, philosophical, politic, Greek, method, death, ancient, believe and 243 more...
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FUN - gestures
There are thousands of sign languages and possibly millions of gestures in human communication but not all of them have a name. Some are understood everywhere, some are understood everywhere but di...
okay sign, abhayamudra, apology, beckoning sign, Bellamy salute, benediction, blessing, blah-blah, "check, please” sign, clenched fist, Chinese number ge..., Clinton thumb and 360 more...
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US - What is Bill talking about - Sep...
The 100 most frequent words of Bill Clinton’s Speech to the Democratic National Convention
america, american, arithmetic, attacked, barack, believe, better, bill, budget, care, class, college and 86 more...
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a beginners' list
a beginner's list should be about novices and all those that start on new journeys
noob, beginner, new, left foot, threshold, dawn, start, go, adventurer, undeterred, brave, foolish and 61 more...
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Beautiful words
Self-explanatory.
plural, melancholy, mother, euphemism, plea, violin, chaos, chasm, soliloquy, air, listen, liopleurodon and 23 more...
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bootload's Words
grouse, beaut, ripper, gassit, hack, hacking, twit, spon, goon, rosella, magpie, galah and 184 more...
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Odd Anagrams
Sets of anagrams that have contrasting or related meanings.
casual, causal, parental, paternal, prenatal, atoners, senator, treason, listen, silent, dictionary, indicatory and 110 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 3063 more... -
him and i
peach, left, alone, abandon, horid, gay, bloody, beautiful, outside, inside, confused, unconditional and 111 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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Beknownst1981's list
I love words, especially the ones I make up with my friends.
translucent meat ..., beknownst (knew), plethora, curmudgeon, wanderlust, actually, differentiate, bearded, hobbit feet, female, sexy time, librarian and 220 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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words of collect
A Heidegger Collection - a log of logues
leech, lectern, lection, lecture, legend, legible, legion, lesson, coil, collect, diligent, elect and 123 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
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thegirlnextfloor's list
autumnal, avalanche, silhouette, antique, abysmal, scorch, sonic, surge, symmetry, whisper, penchant, dissipate and 349 more...
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punnything's Words
existentialist, configure, numismatist, autumnal, desist, ennui, taciturn, vacillate, naivete, bloodletting, tete-a-tete, concentric and 274 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for listen.

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