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

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

But just as she gave up hope of help arriving, she heard the friendly voice of a lifeboat crew member.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

She said she never heard back and had to leave with no list and move onto the streets.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

The court heard that he let the teenager out of the car a few moments later.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

“It’s a call, it’s a call of celebration,” the audience member could be heard saying.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Sadie’s Sandy June’s debut was a plan to soothe brokenhearted people who’d just heard about National Picnic’s new rules.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith