listen

American

[lis-uhn] / ˈlɪs ən /

verb (used without object)

to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; give ear.
to pay attention; heed; obey (often followed byto ).

Children don't always listen to their parents.
to wait attentively for a sound (usually followed byfor ).

to listen for sounds of their return.
Informal. to convey a particular impression to the hearer; sound.

The new recording doesn't listen as well as the old one.

verb (used with object)

Archaic. to give ear to; hear.

verb phrase

listen in
1. to listen to a radio or television broadcast.
  
  Listen in tomorrow for the names of the lottery winners.
2. to overhear a conversation or communication, especially by telephone; eavesdrop.
  
  Someone was listening in to his private calls.

listen British

/ ˈlɪsən /

verb

to concentrate on hearing something
to take heed; pay attention

I told you many times but you wouldn't listen

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See hear.

Other Word Forms

listener noun
relisten verb
unlistening adjective

Etymology

Origin of listen

First recorded before 950; Middle English lis(t)nen, Old English hlysnan; cognate with Middle High German lüsenen, Swedish lyssna; akin to list ⁵

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.

“Wuthering Heights” is a satisfying listen as well as a canny solution to the problem of how to follow up a breakthrough record.

From The Wall Street Journal

For a few seconds, he couldn’t even listen.

From Literature

Nim listened hard so that she could remember the stories forever, after Alex left, and tried not to think about when that would happen.

From Literature

"Sometimes the hardest bit is actually just sitting down together - not fighting and just listening - and saying, 'I want to redefine this in our relationship'," he added.

From BBC

Now we’re in the right headspace for me to offer some of my best tax-season tips as you listen to the song’s killer opening bass line.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023