British informal phrase meaning to listen very attentively or carefully, as if physically pinning one's ears back to catch every sound.
British informal phrase meaning to listen very attentively or carefully, as if physically pinning one's ears back to catch every sound. The image suggests active, focused listening rather than passive hearing. Used colloquially to encourage someone to pay close attention to what is about to be said.
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UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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Failing to pay attention.
(Caribbean) A refusal to listen or obey.
A Caribbean English expression describing a refusal to listen, obey, or take advice — the quality of being willfully deaf to instruction or warning. Used especially of children who won't do as they're told, but also of stubborn adults. 'Hard-ears' carries an implication of deliberate defiance rather than simple mishearing, and it functions as both a noun and an adjective in Caribbean usage.
(US, slang, intransitive) To eavesdrop.
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(UK, informal) To listen attentively.
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