| E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. |
| | | Ear. (Anglo-Saxon, eáre.) | | |
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A deaf ear. One that refuses to listen; as if it heard not. | 1 |
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Bow down Thine ear. Condescend to hear or listen. (Ps. xxxi. 2.). | 2 |
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By ear. To sing or play by ear means to sing or play without knowledge of musical notes, depending on the ear only. | 3 |
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Give ear to … Listen to; give attention to. | 4 |
I am all ear. All attention.
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| And took in strains that might create a soul |
| Under the ribs of death.” | |
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I’ll send you off wïth a fleà in your ear. With a cuff or box of the ear. The allusion is to domestic animals, who are sometimes greatly annoyed with these “tiny torments.” There seems also to be a pun implied—flea and flee. | 6 |
 The French equivalent is “Mettre la puce à l’oreille,” to give one a good jobation. | 7 |
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In at one ear, and out at the other. Forgotten as soon as heard. | 8 |
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No ear. A bad ear for musical intonations; “ear-blind” or “sound-blind.” | 9 |
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Dionysius’s Ear. A bell-shaped chamber connected by an underground passage with the king’s palace. Its object was that the tyrant of Syracuse might overhear whatever was passing in the prison. | 10 |
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