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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Hear

Hēar, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. HEARD (HEARED would be more analogical, but is not in use); p. pr. & vb. n. HEARING.] [A-S. hēran, hyran, O. Sax. horian, O. Fries. hera, hora, Icel. heyra, Sw. höra, Dan. höre, D. hooren, O. H. Ger. hōran, hōren, N. H. Ger. hören, Goth. hausjan. Cf. EAR.]

Sense 1. To perceive by the ear; to apprehend or take cognizance of by the ear; as, to hear sound; to hear a voice; to hear words.

Lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travelers. Shak.

Sense 2. To give audience or attention to; to listen to; to heed; to examine; especially, to attend to for the purpose of judging a cause between parties; to try in a judicial court.

Thy matters are good and right, but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. 2 Sam. xv. 3.

I beseech your honor to hear me one single word. Shak.

Sense 3. To accede to the demand or wishes of; to listen to and answer favorably; to favor.

I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice. Ps. cxvi. 1.

They think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Matt. vi. 7.

Sense 4. To acknowledge or accept as a title. [A Latinism. Rare.]

Hear'st thou, submissive, but a lowly birth? Prior.

To hear a bird sing, to receive private communication. [Colloq.] Shak.—To hear say, to hear one say; to learn by common report; to receive by rumor. [Colloq.]

Hēar, v. i.

verbintransitive
  1. To have the sense or faculty of perceiving sound. “The hearing ear.” Prov. xx. 12.
  2. To use the power of perceiving sound; to perceive or apprehend by the ear; to attend; to listen.

So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard, Well pleased, but answered not. Milton.

Sense 3. To be informed by oral communication; to be told; to receive by report.

I have heard, sir, of such a man. Shak.

I must hear from thee every hour in the day. Shak.

To hear ill, to be blamed. [Obs.] “[Fabius] was well aware that not only within his own camp, but also now at Rome, he heard ill for his temporizing and slow proceedings.” Holland.—To hear well, to be praised. [Obs.]