listen
Plural: listens
Verb
Verb Forms: listened, listening, listens
- To pay attention to sound; to make conscious use of hearing.
- hear with intention
- "Listen to the sound of this cello"
- listen and pay attention
- "Listen to your father"
- pay close attention to; give heed to
- To use one's sense of hearing in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
- To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
Noun
- An instance of listening.
Examples
- Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.
- Good children listen to their parents.
- Good players LISTEN to their opponents’ chatter for clues about their rack.
- I could hear you talking upstairs, but I didn’t really listen to your conversation.
- Listen, the only reason I yelled at you was because I was upset, OK?
- Please listen carefully as I explain.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English listenen, listnen, alteration (due to Middle English listen (“to listen, give heed to”)) of Old English hlysnan (“to listen”), from Proto-Germanic *hlusnijaną, *hlusnōną (compare Middle High German lüsenen), from Proto-Germanic *hlusēną (compare Old High German hlosēn), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”).
Cognate with Swedish lyssna (“to listen”).
Compare Ancient Greek κλαίω (klaíō, “I make known, famous”), Welsh clywed (“to hear”), Latin clueō (“I am famous”), Lithuanian klausýti, Old Church Slavonic слушати (slušati, “to hear”), Sanskrit श्रोषति (śróṣati, “an exclamation used in making an offering with fire to the gods or departed spirits”) & Sanskrit श्लोक्य (ślókya, “voice, sound, noisy”)).
Related to loud and German lauschen.
Synonyms
hear, heed, mind, take heed, attend, be all ears, behear, earball, give ear, hark, harken, lend an ear, list, listen close, note, pay attention, play
Scrabble Score: 6
listen: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordlisten: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
listen: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary