hear
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to perceive by the ear.
Didn't you hear the doorbell?
- Synonyms:
- attend
-
to learn by the ear or by being told; be informed of.
to hear news.
- Synonyms:
- attend
-
to listen to; give or pay attention to.
They refused to hear our side of the argument.
-
to be among the audience at or of (something).
to hear a recital.
- Synonyms:
- attend
-
to give a formal, official, or judicial hearing to (something); consider officially, as a judge, sovereign, teacher, or assembly.
to hear a case.
-
to take or listen to the evidence or testimony of (someone).
to hear the defendant.
-
to listen to with favor, assent, or compliance.
- Antonyms:
- disregard
-
(of a computer) to perceive by speech recognition.
verb (used without object)
-
to be capable of perceiving sound by the ear; have the faculty of perceiving sound vibrations.
-
to receive information by the ear or otherwise.
to hear from a friend.
-
to listen with favor, assent, or compliance (often followed byof ).
I will not hear of your going.
-
(of a computer) to be capable of perceiving by speech recognition.
-
(used as an interjection in the phrase Hear! Hear! to express approval, as of a speech.)
verb
-
(tr) to perceive (a sound) with the sense of hearing
-
(tr; may take a clause as object) to listen to
did you hear what I said?
-
to be informed (of); receive information (about)
to hear of his success
have you heard?
-
law to give a hearing to (a case)
-
to listen (to) with favour, assent, etc
she wouldn't hear of it
-
to receive a letter, news, etc (from)
-
an exclamation used to show approval of something said
-
dialect to be told (about); learn (of)
Synonym Usage
Hear, listen apply to the perception of sound. To hear is to have such perception by means of the auditory sense: to hear distant bells. To listen is to give attention in order to hear and understand the meaning of a sound or sounds: to listen to what is being said; to listen for a well-known footstep.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hearsimple
-
hearssimple
-
have heardperfect
-
has heardperfect
-
am hearingprogressive
-
are hearingprogressive
-
is hearingprogressive
-
have been hearingperfect progressive
-
has been hearingperfect progressive
Past
-
heardsimple
-
had heardperfect
-
was hearingprogressive
-
were hearingprogressive
-
had been hearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hear
First recorded before 950; Middle English heren, Old English hēran, hīeran; cognate with Dutch horen, German hören, Old Norse heyra, Gothic hausjan; perhaps akin to Greek akoúein ( see acoustic)
Explanation
When you hear, you perceive a noise made by someone or something — like a person’s voice, the song of a bird, or the torturous sound of a ticking clock on a sleepless night. While hear generally means to perceive a noise, it has several senses, including to listen carefully, as to a story. If you hear from someone, they have contacted you in some way, such as by phone call, email, or even snail mail. A judge will also hear a case when she presides over a trial. And when you hear the news, you’ve gotten information or found something out. But you didn’t hear it from me.
Vocabulary lists containing hear
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:
Analysts on Meta’s earnings call were audibly eager to hear an update from Zuckerberg on his company’s vague plans to stand up a cloud service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
And why did I hear so much about Fauci’s diary this week?
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
But then you ask if they’re willing to share any portion of the plan, any values, any beliefs, any hopes and wishes — and you hear, “They don’t need to know anything right now.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
The Welsh gymnastics fraternity were still in the building and you could hear their whooping and cheering as Ruby showed off her medal.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Zara squeezes my elbow and lets out a tiny squeal that only I can hear.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Paxton filed in Victoria, where one judge hears all cases.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
“I never get sick anymore,” he hears from several converts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
From Janis Joplin to Whitney Houston, he knows a hit when he hears it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
The Disney fan also told Allen that Buzz was his favourite character from the films, with Allen joking: "I want you to make sure that Tom hears that when he comes out here."
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
He doesn’t know how much time passes, but he finally hears a voice.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
What they heard Wednesday was a chairman whose willingness to deliver them they now doubt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
You’ve probably heard that Generation Z—whose members are now between 14 and 29—is having a hard time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
The court heard Bush, 48, of Otley in West Yorkshire, was arrested when he landed at Heathrow Airport days later, and told police he had debts of about £90,000.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
“These changes and expansions give even more people a place for their music to be respected, heard and evaluated,” the Recording Academy’s Harvey Mason Jr. said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Then I heard a mouse—a rat? —skitter off to my right.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
People in the building reported hearing loud bangs when the fire began, and some employees had to be rescued from elevators amid power outages, according to Culver City Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Atenza.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Christopher grew up hearing his father tell the story of their farewell at a train station in Fort Bliss, Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Bush's five-day sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court, which began on Monday, heard he breached the trust of families on an "almost industrial scale".
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
OK, now you’re safe from watching a multihour Senate hearing.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2026
He still had that tingling feeling, and it contradicted what he was hearing from the television and what he was seeing out the window.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
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.
