Showing Results for "heard"

See Also:

• past tense form of hear.
• past participle of hear.

heard

American  

[hurd] / hɜrd /

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of hear.

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adjective

1. perceived by the ear or learned by hearing.

   Linguists have many theories about how we comprehend heard utterances, but less to say about language production.

   Review your notes and add any comments while the heard information is fresh in your memory.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-heard
  adjective
• well-heard
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of heard

First recorded before 900 heard for def. 1, in 1480–90 heard for def. 2; hear ( def. ) + -(e)d ¹ ( def. ) for verb sense; hear ( def. ) + -(e)d ² ( def. ) for adjective sense

Explanation

If your dog trembled and shook at the sound of fireworks, he might have thought he heard gunshots. Heard means "perceived by the sense of hearing." If you detected a sound using your ears, you heard it. Heard is the past tense of the verb hear, and it's also an adjective when you use it to describe a particular sound, as when you say, "The music was even lovelier since it was mysteriously heard from afar." A word you might confuse with heard is herd, which means "group of animals."

Example Sentences

Telis Demos is a writer for the Journal’s Heard on the Street column, covering banks and financial services.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

South Carolina right-handed pitcher Jori Heard allowed only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

Around 12:30 p.m., people began gathering at Bixby Park, where the city had planned its own free event called “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!”

From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2026

Helena Rowland's play-making skills at inside centre give England plenty, but not the direct route to the line that the injured Tatyana Heard offered.

From BBC • May 16, 2026

Heard the solid thunk of one of them hitting the wood.

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner