listen for

idiom

: to pay attention to sounds in order to hear (something expected)

We listened for (the sound of) his footsteps.

We saw lightning and listened for the thunder.

Examples of listen for in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Fans watching or listening to the game should listen for the very loud grunts when the Giants Robbie Ray throws a pitch. —Bernie Pleskoff, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025

Monitor the sky for threatening signs and listen for the sound of thunder. —Bay Area Weather Report, Mercury News, 2 July 2025

The user opens the native Facebook or Instagram app, which eventually is sent to the background and creates a background service to listen for incoming traffic on a TCP port (12387 or 12388) and a UDP port (the first unoccupied port in 12580–12585). —Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 3 June 2025

These devices are equipped with passive acoustic sensors that continuously listen for underwater sound signals. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 25 June 2025

Rhymes for listen for

• albacore
• alongshore
• antiwar
• anymore
• blastopore
• carnivore
• commodore
• dinosaur
• evermore
• furthermore
• guarantor
• herbivore