lend someone an ear
Meaning: To listen to someone.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Dating from at least the 1600s, this phrase has consistently meant to listen to or ask someone to listen. It became especially popular after William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which Mark Antony says to a noisy crowd, `Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears' in order to get them to quiet down and listen.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- like water off a duck's back — Having no effect on someone.
- look down one's nose at someone or something — To be snobbish about someone or something.
- make one's blood boil — To cause someone to become extremely angry.
- make one's mouth water — To make one salivate in anticipation of something good.
- millstone around one's neck — A burden or handicap, or a source of worry or concern.
- more than meets the eye — Some hidden aspect to a situation.
More English idioms
- neck of the woods — An area; a place.
- need something like one needs a hole in the head — To have absolutely no need for something.
- the nitty-gritty — The heart of the issue; the most important part of the discussion; the essential points.
- not have a leg to stand on — To be in an indefensible situation or to have no support for an argument or case.
- off the top of one's head — To say something without much advance preparation.
- put something on the back burner — To decrease the amount of energy spent on some activity; to delay or postpone action on s…
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