The ears are the organs on the side of the head that we use to hear things. The plural is ‘ears’.
ear idioms list
Let’s look at some popular body idioms that contain the body part ‘ear’.
- all ears
meaning – ready and eager to listen
example – I’ve got a proposition for you, when you’re all ears, I’ll begin. - ears are burning
meaning – the feeling when someone is talking about you
example – I bet your ears were burning earlier, I heard a girl taking about you. - fall on deaf ears
meaning – be ignored by the people you want to listen to you
example – Her cries for help fell on deaf ears, everyone walked on by. - go in one ear and out the other
meaning – something is heard then forgotten
example – Teenagers are useless. Anything I tell my two goes in one ear and out the other. - keep one’s ear to the ground
meaning – listen for information or gossip
example – I’m not sure when the tickets go on sale, I’ll keep my ear to the ground. - make a pig’s ear of something
meaning – make a complete mess of something
example – My wife always makes a right pig’s ear of the dinner. - music to one’s ears
meaning – hear a piece of information that makes you happy/excited
example – My attacker has been caught and locked up, it’s music to my ears. - not believe one’s ears
meaning – you don’t believe or are shocked by something you hear
example – We couldn’t believe our ears when the doctor told us we were expecting triplets. - out on one’s ear
meaning – forced to leave a job or the place where you live
example – Danny stole from my company so he’s out on his ear. - play it by ear
meaning – don’t follow a plan, deal with things as they happen
example – I’m not sure who should run with the project, we’ll just play it by ear. - up to one’s ears/eyes/eyeballs/neck
meaning – extremely busy
example – Josh is up to his neck in boxes. He’s moving tomorrow so he can’t come out. - wet behind the ears
meaning – immature, naive, inexperienced
example – The new apprentice is a little wet behind the ears, but he’ll be great in a few months.
ear idioms list with pictures
Here’s some real life picture examples.
You can download a table of ‘ear’ idioms and expressions below.
If you’ve enjoyed this page, don’t forget to check out some more body idioms by clicking on the links below.