lis·ten | \ ˈli-sᵊn 
\
\listened; listening\ ˈlis-niŋ , ˈli-sᵊn-iŋ \
, ˈli-sᵊn-iŋ \Definition of listen
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to pay attention to sound
listen to music
2 : to hear something with thoughtful attention : give consideration
listen to a plea
3 : to be alert to catch an expected sound
listen for his step
archaic : to give ear to : hear
listen
nounDefinition of listen (Entry 2 of 2)
: an act of listening
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Examples of listen in a Sentence
Verb
I listened as hard as I could, but I couldn't hear a word of what he said over all that noise.
She listened with interest as he told her about his travels.
She tried to warn him of the dangers, but he wouldn't listen.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The president instructs stakeholders to consult with Indigenous communities, to listen and learn the best methods for long-term land and resource management and how to act as both steward and landowner.
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Nick Martin, The New Republic, "American Agriculture Is Broken, and Tom Vilsack Is Not the Man to Fix It," 1 Feb. 2021 Once a country notifies the WHO about its health threat, the WHO will then call an expert committee together that meets behind closed doors to review the data and listen to testimony from the country that has reported the threat.
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Jen Christensen, CNN, "On the anniversary of Covid-19 becoming an official public health emergency, experts say its time for a change," 30 Jan. 2021 As the first queen out, Billboard asked Kahmora to curate a playlist of some of her favorite songs to listen to during quarantine.
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Stephen Daw, Billboard, "Kahmora Hall on Joining the Sorority of First-Eliminated 'Drag Race' Queens: 'I'm Grateful For It'," 29 Jan. 2021 The school gathered in the oppressively hot and humid outdoor gym to watch clog dancing demonstrations and Khon masked pantomimes, listen to bagpipes, and walk in a parade of nations.
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Sarah Spellings, Vogue, "After 8 Years, I Finally Know How to Wear My Cowboy Boots," 26 Jan. 2021 To listen only by phone, dial +1-415-655-0001, Access code: 178 119 6493.
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Thomas Jewell, cleveland, "Cleveland Heights’ 8th annual Democracy Day -- virtual edition -- set for Thursday," 25 Jan. 2021 Food-services and facilities-management company Sodexo is asking managers to listen for signs of vaccine hesitancy among staff and launching a social-media campaign to encourage employees to get the shots.
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Chip Cutter, WSJ, "CEOs Confront Employees’ Covid-19 Vaccine Doubts, Going Into Myth-Buster Mode," 25 Jan. 2021 So the chief of staff is not saying, wait a second, this is our official coordinator listen to her and her only?
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CBS News, "Transcript: Deborah Birx on "Face the Nation," January 24, 2021," 24 Jan. 2021 Experts have raised privacy concerns over the device’s ability to listen to, well, literally everything.
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Popular Science, "Save over $100 on this Alexa-enabled smart light," 22 Jan. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Take a listen at startribune.com/dailydelivery or on popular podcast services such as Apple, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
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Star Tribune, "Delivered: Episode 1 of our podcast," 1 Feb. 2021 Take a listen: Like the Egyptians, the Vikings have long been a source of fascination for moviemakers, and in popular culture they're often depicted as blond-haired, Scandinavian warriors who pillaged their way through Europe.
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Katie Hunt, CNN, "Science's most fascinating and awe-inspiring discoveries in 2020," 29 Dec. 2020 Very worth a listen for anyone into women doing cool things.
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Jenny Singer, Glamour, "The Best Podcasts of 2020 That Got Us Through a Difficult Year," 28 Dec. 2020 This is a really fun interview—please click the link below and have a listen.
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Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY, "Looking back at 20 years of tech," 26 Dec. 2020 Kara Swisher's conversation with WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar is well worth a listen or read.
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Brian Stelter, CNN, "Disney+ announcements are an 'earth-shaking' development in the streaming wars," 11 Dec. 2020 Taylor Swift has released a first listen to one of her back catalog re-recording efforts.
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James Hibberd, EW.com, "Taylor Swift releases first re-recording sample of 'Love Story'," 2 Dec. 2020 After the album was complete, Scharf invited Murray for a listen.
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Reid Forgrave, Star Tribune, "Mankato musicians make Christmas album for charity," 28 Nov. 2020 Take a read — and a listen — and prepare to never look at shampoo the same way again.
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Julie Ricevuto, Allure, "The Science of Beauty: How to Use the 7 Types of Shampoo," 25 Nov. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'listen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for listen
listen
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of listen
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to pay attention to someone or something in order to hear what is being said, sung, played, etc.
—used to tell a person to listen to what you are saying
: to hear what someone has said and understand that it is serious, important, or true
listen
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of listen (Entry 2 of 2)
: the act of listening to something
See the full definition for listen in the English Language Learners Dictionary
listen
verblis·ten | \ ˈli-sᵊn \
\listened; listening
Kids Definition of listen
1 : to pay attention in order to hear
Are you listening to me?
2 : to hear and consider seriously
He listened to his father's advice.
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Comments on listen
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Time Traveler for listen
The first known use of listen was before the 12th century
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