listen

lis|ten¹ W1S1 [ˈlısən] v

[: Old English; Origin: hlysnan]

1.) to pay attention to what someone is saying or to a sound that you can hear

▪ Listen! There's a strange noise in the engine.

listen to

▪ We sat around listening to music.

listen carefully/intently/hard etc

▪ The whole class was listening attentively.

▪ Liz stood still and listened hard (=very carefully) .

2.) [i]spoken used to tell someone to pay attention to what you are going to say

▪ Listen, I want you to come with me.

3.) to consider what someone says and accept their advice

▪ I told him not to go, but he just wouldn't listen.

listen to

▪ I wish I'd listened to Dad.

▪ She refused to listen to reason (=accept sensible advice) .

listen for [listen for sth] phr v

to listen carefully so that you will notice a particular sound

▪ Listen for the moment when the music changes.

listen in phr v

1.) to listen to a broadcast on the radio

listen in to

▪ I must remember to listen in to the news.

→tune in(1)

2.) to listen to someone's conversation when they do not want you to

listen in on

▪ It sounded like someone was listening in on us.

listen out phr v

to listen carefully so that you will notice a particular sound

listen out for

▪ Listen out for the baby in case she wakes up.

listen up phr v

used to get people's attention so they can hear what you are going to say

▪ Hey everybody, listen up!

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

HINT sense 1

listen is never followed directly by a noun. It must be followed by to and then a noun or a clause: Listen to what I say (NOT listen what I say).

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

listen ²

listen² n

a listen

BrE informal an act of listening

▪ Have a listen to this new album!