to keep one's ear to the ground
- idiom
- Informal
:
estar atento
- Journalists often keep their ears to the ground for the latest news and trends.
Examples
-
She tries to keep her ear to the ground to hear about any upcoming job openings.
-
It's important to keep one's ear to the ground if you want to succeed in a fast-changing industry.
-
To be a successful entrepreneur, you must keep your ear to the ground to understand market trends.
-
I always keep my ear to the ground for rumors about new projects in my field.
-
Effective leaders keep their ears to the ground to stay informed about their employees' concerns.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Pay attention to advice or warnings and act on them
98
3.5
To wait and pay attention for more news or updates
28
3.4
To watch carefully so you notice danger or changes
16
4.6
Watch carefully for something important or dangerous
8
5.3
To stay informed about recent changes or news in a subject
7
3.1
To keep up with the latest news and events
6
6.8
Careful attention to the latest news and trends
4
3.7
Stay alert to hear useful news or information
1
6.2
To listen carefully to someone
1
6.0
Watch carefully for something you expect to see
Antonyms
How Informed
27
4.1
- Informal
8
3.0
- Informal
4
3.7
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
keep + one + ear + to + the + ground
The meaning 'to pay close attention / be well-informed' is motivated by the image of literally putting an ear to the ground to detect faint signals, so there is a partial, metaphorical relation to the constituents 'ear' and 'ground' but not a directly compositional meaning. This metaphorical and idiomatic mapping is partly inferable from the words but still culture-specific and not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Keep one's ear to the ground may come from the image of someone pressing their ear to the ground to hear very faint noises, like far-off footsteps or the approach of horses. That's why today it means 'to pay close attention' or 'to listen for news and changes'.