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

• 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

Example Sentences

An AFP journalist heard two loud explosions in the city within a half-hour period early Saturday and saw smoke billowing from one of them.

From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026

The court also heard he was married and between them they had 11 children, who would be left without their dad if he was imprisoned.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

Starting Thursday afternoon and lasting throughout the night, chirps could be heard coming from one of the avian couple’s two eggs, perched high in a Jeffrey pine overlooking Big Bear Lake.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

If it weren’t for Pangram, I never would have heard of Mia Ballard.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

I heard her soft laughter in the dark.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom