listen

• POS: Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: lis=ten
• COUNT in NET: 363 in 347 verses (in OT : 298 in 283 verses) (in NT : 65 in 64 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

listen, v. i. [OE. listnen, listen, lustnen, lusten, AS. hlystan; akin to hlyst hearing, OS. hlust, Icel. hlusta to listen, hlust ear, AS. hlosnian to wait in suspense, OHG. hlosēn to listen, Gr. kly`ein, and E. loud. Loud, and cf. List to listen.].

•  To give close attention with the purpose of hearing; to give ear; to hearken; to attend.  [1913 Webster]

  "When we have occasion to listen, and give a more particular attention to some sound, the tympanum is drawn to a more than ordinary tension."  [1913 Webster]
•  To give heed; to yield to advice; to follow admonition; to obey.  [1913 Webster]

  "Listen to me, and by me be ruled."  [1913 Webster]

  "Soldiers note forts, armories, and magazines; scholars listen after libraries, disputations, and professors."

To listen after, to take an interest in. [Obs.]

Syn. -- To attend; hearken. See Attend.

listen, v. t. 

 To attend to.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

listen, v.intr.
1 a make an effort to hear something. b attentively hear a person speaking.
2 (foll. by to) a give attention with the ear (listened to my story). b take notice of; respond to advice or a request or to the person expressing it.
3 (also listen out) (often foll. by for) seek to hear or be aware of by waiting alertly.

Idiom

listen in
1 tap a telephonic communication.
2 use a radio receiving set.
listening-post
1 a a point near an enemy's lines for detecting movements by sound. b a station for intercepting electronic communications.
2 a place for the gathering of information from reports etc.

Etymology

OE hlysnan f. WG

THESAURUS

listen

NB, attend, attend to, auscultate, be all ears, bend an ear, bug, cock the ears, eavesdrop, examine by ear, give attention, give audience to, give ear, give ear to, hark, hear, hear out, hearken, hearken to, heed, intercept, lend an ear, listen at, listen in, listen to, mind, obey, pay attention to, sit in on, straitened circumstances, tap, wiretap

ROGET THESAURUS

listen

Hearing

VB hear, overhear, hark, harken, list, listen, pay attention, take heed, give an ear, lend an ear, bend an ear, catch, catch a sound, prick up one's ears, give ear, give a hearing, give audience to, hang upon the lips of, be all ears, listen with both ears, become audible, meet the ear, fall upon the ear, catch the ear, reach the ear, be heard, ring in the ear.