listen

[lis-uh n] /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 by to):

Children don't always listen to their parents.

to wait attentively for a sound (usually followed by for):

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 phrases

listen in,

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

Origin

before 950; Middle English lis(t)nen, Old English hlysnan; cognate with Middle High German lüsenen, Swedish lyssna; akin to list⁵

Related forms

listener, noun

relisten, verb

unlistening, adjective

Synonyms

1. See hear.

Examples from the web for listener

So a listener who wants to hear, say, the third item on the first side of the tape simply fast-forwards to the third beep.
The listener is not able to understand where the acoustic instrument is and where the new sampled sound comes in.
Fool is he who alone talks and is his only listener.
In any intermediary lyrical period its effect upon the listener is apt to be one of experiment and vacillation.
Electrochemical impulses stream into the auditory cortex of a listener's brain.
From there, the sound is transmitted to the brain and informs the listener about pitch, intensity and even location.
It's easy for someone who understands it to make it sound straightforward to a listener.
Other variables, such as anticipatory anxiety or listener reactions may influence the development and maintenance of stuttering.
Happily, in a normal discussion, the roles of speaker and listener alternate.
To a casual listener, it may not be immediately obvious what makes one rapper better than another.

British Dictionary definitions for listener

listen

/ˈlɪsən/

verb (intransitive)

to concentrate on hearing something

to take heed; pay attention: I told you many times but you wouldn't listen

Derived Forms

listener, noun

Word Origin

Old English hlysnan; related to Old High German lūstrēn

Word Origin and History for listener

1610s, "one who listens;" agent noun from listen. Meaning "one who hears a radio broadcast" is from 1912; hence listenership (1938).

listen

Old English hlysnan "to listen," from Proto-Germanic *khlusinon (cf. Dutch luisteren, Old High German hlosen "to listen," German lauschen "to listen"), from PIE root *kleu- "hearing, to hear" (cf. Sanskrit srnoti "hears," srosati "hears, obeys;" Avestan sraothra "ear;" Middle Persian srod "hearing, sound;" Lithuanian klausau "to hear," slove "splendor, honor;" Old Church Slavonic slusati "to hear," slava "fame, glory," slovo "word;" Greek klyo "hear, be called," kleos "report, rumor, fame glory," kleio "make famous;" Latin cluere "to hear oneself called, be spoken of;" Old Irish ro-clui-nethar "hears," clunim "I hear," clu "fame, glory," cluada "ears;" Welsh clywaf "I hear;" Old English hlud "loud," hleoðor "tone, tune;" Old High German hlut "sound;" Gothic hiluþ "listening, attention"). The -t- probably is by influence of Old English hlystan (see list (v.2)). For vowel evolution, see bury. As a noun from 1788 (on the listen "alert").