- present participle of hear.
hearing
Americannoun
-
hearings
plural
-
the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived.
-
the act of perceiving sound.
-
opportunity to be heard.
to grant a hearing.
-
an instance or a session in which testimony and arguments are presented, especially before an official, as a judge in a lawsuit.
- Synonyms:
- consultation, conference, audience
-
a preliminary examination of the basic evidence and charges by a magistrate to determine whether criminal procedures, a trial, etc., are justified.
-
earshot.
Their conversation was beyond my hearing.
noun
-
the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived
-
an opportunity to be listened to
-
the range within which sound can be heard; earshot
-
the investigation of a matter by a court of law, esp the preliminary inquiry into an indictable crime by magistrates
-
a formal or official trial of an action or lawsuit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hearing
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at hear, -ing 1
Explanation
Hearing is the sense that allows you to distinguish sounds with your ears. Dogs have a particularly acute sense of hearing, and they can hear sounds pitched too high for humans to hear. You use your hearing when you attend a concert, listen to an audio book, or talk to a friend on the phone. Another kind of hearing is a legal process at which people state a case in front of a judge, so she can decide whether or not it should be presented at a trial with a jury. This kind of hearing gets its name from the idea that the court is "listening" to the evidence.
Vocabulary lists containing hearing
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In his roughly 50 years preaching, Hutchinson says the anxiety he is hearing about AI outranks everything.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
As one of Britain's best-known TV presenters for decades, Jonathan Ross has met many famous people, and Murphy loves hearing his stories.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
When Magaña didn’t appear in court for a hearing on Aug. 24, his family called the jail but didn’t receive any information about him, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
GPT-5.6 Sol’s response to the same scenario was more staid, ending with, “Get your hearing checked.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
Ruffling his feathers, he hopped upon the rail fence, threw his head back, and told everything within hearing distance that it was a beautiful Ozark morning and it was time to start stirring.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
And, as hearings go on, they’ll issue criminal referrals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The first trial over his death was dramatically annulled last year after two-and-a-half months of hearings, following revelations that one of the judges took part in a clandestine documentary about the case.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The current hearings are expected to continue until 15 October, with a further hearing for families on 20 October.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The administration says it seeks assurances from those countries that the deported persons will not be not be abused or persecuted, but it refuses hearings for individuals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
She had learned that the Senate was going to conduct hearings about the parade, and she wanted to gather testimony before the suffragists returned to their hometowns.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
