• (British) IPA: /ɪə̯/
• (America) IPA: /ɪɹ/, /iɹ/

ear (plural ears)

1. topics en (countable) The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
2. (countable) The external part of the organ of hearing, the auricle.
3. (countable, slang) A police informant.
   • 1976, Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, Gail Morgan Hickman, The Enforcer.

     No I'm not kidding, and if you don't give it to me I'll let it out that you’re an ear.

4. The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; skill or good taste in listening to music.
   • 1849, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, OCLC 3968433 ↗, (please specify ):

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     songs […] not all ungrateful to thine ear

   a good ear for music
5. The privilege of being kindly heard; favour; attention.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Apophthegms

     Dionysius […] would give no ear to his suit.

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

6. That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; a prominence or projection on an object, usually for support or attachment; a lug; a handle.

   the ears of a tub, skillet, or dish;   The ears of a boat are outside kneepieces near the bow.

7. (architecture) An acroterium.
8. (architecture) A crossette.

ear (ears, present participle earing; past and past participle eared)

1. (humorous) To take in with the ears; to hear.
   • Two Noble Kinsmen

     I eared her language.

2. To hold by the ears.

ear (plural ears)

1. (countable) The fruiting body of a grain plant.

   He is in the fields, harvesting ears of corn.

• head
• spike

• French: épi
• German: Ähre, Getreideähre
• Italian: spiga, pannocchia, amento
• Portuguese: espiga
• Russian: ко́лос
• Spanish: espiga

ear (ears, present participle earing; past and past participle eared)

1. (intransitive) To put forth ears in growing; to form ears, as grain does.

   This corn ears well.

• French: monter en épi, épier
• Russian: колоси́ться
• Spanish: espigar

ear (ears, present participle earing; past and past participle eared)

1. (archaic) To plough.
   • 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II:

     That power I have, discharge; and let them go

     To ear the land that hath some hope to grow,

     For I have none.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Deuteronomy 21:4 ↗:

     And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley

• French: labourer
• German: pflügen
• Italian: arare
• Portuguese: arar
• Russian: паха́ть
• Spanish: arar

ear (plural ears)

1. (programming) Initialism of w:EAR (file format) a file format used to package Java applications
2. (nutrition) Initialism of estimated average requirements