LISTEN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does listen mean? 

• LISTEN (verb)
  The verb LISTEN has 3 senses:

1. hear with intention

2. listen and pay attention

3. pay close attention to; give heed to

  Familiarity information: LISTEN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LISTEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they listen    ... he / she / it listens   
Past simple: listened   
Past participle: listened   
-ing form: listening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hear with intention

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

Listen to the sound of this cello

Hypernyms (to "listen" is one way to...):

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

"Listen" entails doing...:

hear (perceive (sound) via the auditory sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "listen"):

hear out (listen to every detail and give a full hearing to)

listen in (listen quietly, without contributing to the conversation)

advert; attend; give ear; hang; pay heed (give heed (to))

hark; harken; hearken (listen; used mostly in the imperative)

eavesdrop; listen in (listen without the speaker's knowledge)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Also:

listen in (listen without the speaker's knowledge)

Derivation:

listener (someone who listens attentively)

listening (the act of hearing attentively)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Listen and pay attention

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

hear; listen; take heed

Context example:

We must hear the expert before we make a decision

Hypernyms (to "listen" is one way to...):

center; centre; concentrate; focus; pore; rivet (direct one's attention on something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "listen"):

incline (bend or turn (one's ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

listener (someone who listens attentively)

listening (the act of hearing attentively)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pay close attention to; give heed to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

heed; listen; mind

Context example:

Heed the advice of the old men

Hypernyms (to "listen" is one way to...):

obey (be obedient to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

listening (the act of hearing attentively)

 Context examples 

Wolf Larsen had sat about, listening to my repairing the windlass and talking with Maud and me upon indifferent subjects.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

And Bidarshik, who is my son, sits by the fire and listens; and his eyes are very wide and large because of the things he hears.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

It is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There seemed a strange stillness over everything; but as I listened I heard as if from down below in the valley the howling of many wolves.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He walked to the centre of the open space and listened.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I listened, but they were not repeated, and I concluded that they came from outside.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes listened attentively to everything, throwing in a question from time to time.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If a clerk wanted his salary raised, Mr. Jorkins wouldn't listen to such a proposition.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He listened with a sceptical smile on his gaunt face, and roared with laughter on hearing that the Professor had convinced me.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is not my mission to listen to her before the vulgar herd either: I mean to have her all to myself.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)