ear

ear [-s] n

OE.

1. Person; [metonymy] body; human being.
2. Auricle; hearing; faculty of auditory perception.
3. Sense of hearing; [fig.] mind; thoughts; inner dialogue.
4. Audience; congregation; company; one in attendance at a concert; [fig.] creature; being; beloved.
5. Consciousness of sound; response to sounds of lament; [fig.] echo; resonating chamber; vehicle of reverberation.
6. Channel for listening; means of communication.
7. Power of distinguishing sounds; [fig.] capacity for enjoying lyric verse; talent for judging harmony in language.
8. Connoisseur.
9. Awareness; cognizance; perception; sentience; comprehension.
10. Listener; auditor; hearer; recipient; [fig.] receptacle; receiver of a message; [word play on “Ear”, “Here”, and “Hear”] presence; entity; essence.
11. Spike; capitulum for maize seeds.
12. Ability to process speech into understanding; capacity to translate language into meaning.
13. Fleshy outer appendage for receiving sound; auditory perception instrument by which humans perceive sound; shell-shaped body part on each side of the head.
14. Sensibility to the beauty of music; sensitivity to the emotional impact and spiritual power of sounds in nature.
15. Phrase. “hold my ears”: shut out sound; cover the sides of the head to avoid hearing.588/Fr394 To hold my life, and hold my ears / For fear I hear her say