IdiomBody & Senses
English
Englishlend someone an ear
Meaning: To listen to someone.
Example: “If you ever need to talk, I'm happy to lend an ear.”
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.
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