Showing results for "heard"

• 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

• half-heard
  adjective
• well-heard
  adjective

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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

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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

See Examples For:

heard

“Milwaukee Brewers” is a fixture of the team’s clubhouse, where it’s heard in the background of audio and video of interviews and celebrations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Their demands vary, but they are united in wanting to make their often marginalised voices heard, sometimes even with radical methods in the face of heavy-handed policing.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

“From the moment I heard Chappell’s voice, I knew she was a force to be reckoned with,” Aguilera said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

The inquest heard the man's remains could have been in the water for more than three months before they were found.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

Once I heard it, I latched on like a lifeline and started walking through the brush.

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

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