Search the Dictionary

To perceive by the ear; to apprehend or take cognizance of by the ear; as, to hear sounds; to hear a voice; to hear one call. Lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou canst hear the tread of travelers. Shak. He had been heard to utter an ominous growl. Macaulay.

imp. & p. p. of Hear.

One who hears; an auditor.

ving sound; perception of sound; the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived; as, my hearing is good. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear. Job xlii. 5.

To listen; to lend the ear; to attend to what is uttered; to give heed; to hear, in order to obey or comply. The Furies hearken, and their snakes uncurl. Dryden. Hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you. Deut. iv. 1.

One who hearkens; a listener.

Rehearsal. [Obs.] Spenser.

Report; rumor; fame; common talk; something heard from another. Much of the obloquy that has so long rested on the memory of our great national poet originated in frivolous hearsays of his life and conversation. Prof. Wilson. Hearsay evidence (Law), that species of testimony which consists in a a narration by one perso…

A grave, coffin, tomb, or sepulchral monument. [Archaic] "Underneath this marble hearse." B. Johnson. Beside the hearse a fruitful palm tree grows. Fairfax Who lies beneath this sculptured hearse. Longfellow.

A cloth for covering a coffin when on a bier; a pall. Bp. Sanderson.

Suitable to a funeral. If you listen to David's harp, you shall hear as many hearselike airs as carols. Bacon.

rhythmically, keeps up the circulation of the blood. Why does my blood thus muster to my heart! Shak.

Ease of heart; peace or tranquillity of mind or feeling. Shak.

Preying on the heart.

Depriving of thought; ecstatic. "Heart-robbing gladness." Spenser.

A part of the breastbone. [Obs.] He feeleth through the herte-spon the pricke. Chaucer.

Having the heart or affections free; not in love. Shak.

Wounded to the heart with love or grief. Pope.

Sorrow; anguish of mind; mental pang. Shak.

Crushing sorrow or grief; a yielding to such grief. Shak.