your ex-wife last night.’
‘I thought I could feel my ears bumingr
” sb’s 'ears are
flapping (BrE,
informal) a person is trying to
listen to sb else’s conversation ^AlESIr A^ff go in one ear
and out the 'other {informal) (of information, etc.
# M >§> #) to be forgotten quickly — —
KA&fcb ; ^#Ai&
M:
Everything I tell them just goes in one ear and out the other. have
sth coming out of your 'ears (informal) to have a lot of sth,
especially more than you need
ItMMiiAffflr ) have sb’s ear | have the ear of sb to be able to give sb
advice, influence them, etc. because they trust you fE ^ A UP M ift # ± tS; ^ A p/t
#$£■£:
He had the ear of the monarch. ftfe fE A A S.
keep/have your ear to the ground to make sure that you
always find out about the most recent developments in a particular situation EEM-fti)]
fa; #fSft$rAJttfE play (sth) by 'ear to play music by
remembering how it sounds rather than by reading it AiS'lZMX; ## play it by 'ear (informal) to
decide how to deal with a
situation as it develops rather than by having a plan to follow j&l/lfrA;
BtfJl & X; # IS If H ^ ^ : I
don’t know what they’ll
want when they arrive—we’ll have to play
it by ear. X7 it m — ?fedKAMA*To
shut/close your 'ears to sth to refuse to listen to sth '(#•” ) AA7|J5,
SlAASI: She decided to shut
her ears to all the rumours.
So smile/grin/beam
from ear to 'ear to be smiling, etc. a lot because you are
very pleased about sth jg Jf ^If-pAftl with half an
'ear without
giving your full attention to what is being said, etc. ^'AiS JifeB/f —more at believe, bend v., box n., box v., cock
V.,
DEAF adj., EASY adj., FEEL V., FLEA, LEND, MUSIC, OPEN
adj., pig n., prick v., ring2
v., silk, thick adj., wall n., wet adj., word n.
earache /'iareik;
NAmE 'ir-/ noun [U, C] pain inside the ear Aiffi: to have (an)
earache BA IS ear bash ing /‘iabaejiq; NAmE
'ir-/ noun [sing.] {BrE, informal) an occasion where sb
criticizes a person in an angry way
'ear drops noun [pi.] liquid medicine
that can be put into the ears i^Af1!
ear-drum /'iadrAm; NAmE
'ir-/ noun the piece of thin tightly stretched skin inside the ear which
is moved by sound waves, making you able to hear AH; t£M: a perforated
eardrum ft II If ?L
earful /‘iaful; NAmE 'irful/
noun [sing.] (informal) if sb
gives you an earful, they tell you for a long time how angry they are about sth
-fcN’lBJWXvf ( )
ear-hole /‘iahaul; NAmE 'irhoul/
noun (informal) the outer opening of the ear A?L earl /3:1; NAmE 3irl/ noun a nobleman of high rank fg If-;
the Earl of Essex #111 it —
see also countess .Earl 'Grey noun [U] a type of tea
flavoured with bergamot ( fflf ) )
earli est /'3:liist; NAmE '3:rl-/ noun [sing.] the earliest the time before which
sth cannot happen ft A; HAN- IB]: The earliest we can finish is
next Friday. d ft A 0 We can’t finish before
next Friday at the earliest. fSClfli-At&3WTMIKAtbXsA
'ear lobe (also lobe) noun the soft part at the
bottom of the ear AS — picture o body early 0-w /*3:li; NAmE '3:rli/
adj., adv. m adj. (earl ier,
earli-est) 1
near the beginning of a period of time, an event etc. A $3 ; f£J [ft; A A 67 the
early morning 0 my earliest
memories llcftA^ifitZ,
0
The project is still in the early stages, it. A*® B
d&hA
0
the early 1990s * 20 90 Aft
10 o in
the early days of space exploration (= when it was just
beginning) o The earliest
possible date
1
can make it is the third.
l^ftAtfclcf'JHAAt&Sld 0
He’s in his early twenties, fifell AA Ao o Mozart’s
early works (= those written at the beginning of his career) XA#6iJA$3Ann 0
Early booking is essential, as space is limited. JAfvA®, 0 ®iTa
2 arriving, or done
before the usual, expected
or planned time AI'J ; $1
HU
6iJ; $1 A 60: You’re early! I wasn’t expecting you till seven.
#3t#AA> 0 The
bus
was ten minutes early. A
A X A- i'J 7 7 /Hd o an early breakfast #Al$ A# 0 Let’s make an early
start tomorrow. B| d A -* A It fcb A BE „ 0 She’s an early
riser (= she gets up early in the morning). MJkAXI© AAfed Ao o He learnt
to play the piano at an early age. |feAXftXX7##(!^o
0 early potatoes (= that are ready to eat at the beginning of the
season) AAA $J±j& PTJ3 late ► earli-ness noun [U] IT7I77I an ’early bird (humorous) a person who gets
up, arrives, etc. very early Afe#; AI'J#; ftXA^#
at your
earliest convenience (business fti)
as soon as possible A A; Att: Please telephone at your earliest convenience.
i#AAfT ffe if o the .early bird
catches the 'worm (saying) the person who takes
the opportunity to do sth before other people will have an advantage over them
OtAA!!:; St®. A# it’s early 'days (yet) (BrE) used to say that it is too soon to be sure how a
situation will develop A Bt i*ft A;
BRIGHT
adj., HOUR, NIGHT
■
adv.
(earl-ier,
earli-est) 1 near the beginning of a period of time, an event, a
piece of work, etc. fE A $1; fE Al M ; X X IA A : early in the
week/year/season/ morningXAJ; ASXl; —AThe best rooms go to those who
book earliest, ft A BUT## #11
2
(H) A fa] o o We
arrived early the next day. ^{|]|^Z1A
3
A Dt 1'J 7
o 0 He started writing music as early as
1989. life A A 1989 EH3 late
0
before the usual, expected
or planned time ft A; # itu: The bus came five minutes early. Af!J 7 ft
Aid
O I woke up early this morning. UcAAAABi# Ao 0 The
baby arrived earlier than expected. ^JLAA 7 o ril-IU late 3 earlier before the present
time or the time mentioned Alt; AiSft; •Alt: As I mentioned earlier ...
IE$0^c AltFf#f!jlt0
a week earlier — jU It 0 She had seen him earlier in the day. M fefflAA®N1M$]jiiftfeo E322 later IT7TXI early 'on at an early stage of a situation,
relationship, period of time, etc. ft fUSA X JF #r A; A A: I knew quite early on that I wanted to marry
her. A Aifc
$io
.early 'closing noun [U] (BrE) the
practice of closing shops on a particular afternoon every week (now no longer
very common) fiAfTA, fllu^ltXik ( iHiS
AJiWmAAAATFn, )
.early 'warning noun [U, sing.] a thing that tells you in
advance that sth serious or dangerous is going to happen :M
AWfR: an early warning of heart disease 7'
JffiflltAIBlEfftoan early warning system (= of enemy attack)
ear-mark/'iamaik; NAmE'irmairk/ verb, noun
m verb [VN] [usually passive] ~ sb/sth (for/as
sb/sth) to decide that sth will be used for a particular purpose, or to state
that sth will happen to sb/sth in the future fa A ••• ®A£td 5ft® ( ) ; The
money had been earmarked
for spending on new school buildings. o The
factory has been earmarked
for closure. j&itXd Ef&fa ® APfi
o 0 She was earmarked early as a possible champion. AdAffciATEMffAfi^Tio
nnoun [usually pi.] {NAmE) a feature or quality that is typical of
sb/sth ; #fflE: The incident has all the earmarks
of a terrorist attack. A A A ff
Bffr M rfr d
mw&a
ear-muffs /'iamAfs; NAmE 'irmAfs/ noun [pi.]
a pair of coverings for the ears connected by a band across the top of the
head, and worn to protect the ears, especially from cold () Am, AX, rA: a
pair of earmuffs -giJAX
earn Our /3:n; NAmE3:m/ verb 1 to get money for
work that you do # #; %; #
^:
[VN] He earns about $40 000 a year, life—4 o 0 She earned a living as
a part-time secretary. M ItMUIRIfrA A Ao o She
must earn a fortune (= earn a lot of money). M?£Jk#7
— o [VNN] His
victory in the tournament
earned him $50 000. ItfefE&iA