listen
//ˈlɪsən//
informalForms
- present (v1)
- listen
- past (v2)
- listened
- past participle (v3)
- listened
- present participle
- listening
- 3rd person singular
- listens
- Plural
- listens
Definitions
1.To use one's sense of hearing and auditory cognition in an intentional way; to make deliberate use of one's ears; to pay attention to or wait for a specific sound.
- Please listen carefully as I explain.
- Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.
- I could hear you talking upstairs, but I didn’t really listen to your conversation.
2.To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
- Good children listen to their parents.
- Listen, the only reason I yelled at you was because I was upset, OK?
- Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest[…].
1.An instance of listening.
- Give the motor a listen and tell me if it sounds off.
- I hadn't spoken to her in a year, but she could still see my listens on the music platform we both used.
- The diss song, “Back to Back,” now has more than 124 million listens, a sign that the streaming can attract a sizable audience for a single track.
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #460
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Very common
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Common
Related words
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”).