half an ear
1
7.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
escuchar a medias
- I listened to the lecture with only half an ear because I was distracted by my phone.
- listened with half an ear
Examples
-
To this point, Chemayev had been listening with half an ear, more concerned with the significance of having run into these women from his dream, trying fruitlessly to recall how the dream had proceeded after he had seen them, and thinking that he should turn back to avoid what might prove to be a real confrontation with March; but now he searched Nataliya's face for a sign that she might be commenting on his particular situation.
Fiction book (2001) -
I listened with half an ear, filling every silence between us with the sound of Beau's voice, and filling every dark mile along the way with the images of Beau smiling, talking, gazing at me with that look of anguish in his eyes and yes, that look of love.
Fiction book (1995) -
I was listening to his words with only half an ear.
Fiction book (1995) -
Listening with half an ear to the noises
Fiction book (2001) -
I listened with only half an ear.
Fiction book (1994) -
"Attending with only half an ear, Titus put on his shoes.
Fiction book (2001) -
I'm listening to that presser and keeping an eye and half an ear.
Blog text (20) -
Ruth listened with half an ear, distracted by the presence of the onyx man at her side.
Fiction book (1994) -
Everyone believed that we were lovers, but we were already listening to each other with only half an ear, and we were no closer than two stuffed lizards on a shelf.
Fiction book (2000) -
The pedigreed family dog, looking at Shelby with one half-opened eye and listening with only half an ear, was not bestirred to action by her preparations.
Fiction book (1995)
Antonyms
How Attentive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'half' (partly) modifying 'ear' (listening/attention), with 'an' as the article; together they transparently indicate listening only to a limited extent. The body-part-for-attention metaphor (ear = attention) is common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Half an ear comes from the image of someone listening with only half the ear, so they catch a few words but miss most of what is said. So it means 'not giving full attention', listening in a partly interested or distracted way.