HEARING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hearing mean? 

• HEARING (noun)
  The noun HEARING has 6 senses:

1. (law) a proceeding (usually by a court) where evidence is taken for the purpose of determining an issue of fact and reaching a decision based on that evidence

2. an opportunity to state your case and be heard

3. the range within which a voice can be heard

4. the act of hearing attentively

5. a session (of a committee or grand jury) in which witnesses are called and testimony is taken

6. the ability to hear; the auditory faculty

  Familiarity information: HEARING used as a noun is common.

• HEARING (adjective)
  The adjective HEARING has 1 sense:

1. able to perceive sound

  Familiarity information: HEARING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEARING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(law) a proceeding (usually by a court) where evidence is taken for the purpose of determining an issue of fact and reaching a decision based on that evidence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("hearing" is a kind of...):

legal proceeding; proceeding; proceedings ((law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hearing"):

administrative hearing (a hearing that takes place outside the judicial process before hearing examiners who have been granted judicial authority specifically for the purpose of conducting such hearings)

competence hearing (a hearing to determine legal capacity (to determine whether the defendant can understand the charges and cooperate with a lawyer in preparing a defense))

fair hearing (a hearing that is granted in extraordinary situations where the normal judicial process would be inadequate to secure due process because the person would be harmed or denied their rights before a judicial remedy became available (as in deportation or loss of welfare benefits))

quo warranto (a hearing to determine by what authority someone has an office or franchise or liberty)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An opportunity to state your case and be heard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

audience; hearing

Context example:

he saw that he had lost his audience

Hypernyms ("hearing" is a kind of...):

chance; opportunity (a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The range within which a voice can be heard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

earreach; earshot; hearing

Context example:

the children were told to stay within earshot

Hypernyms ("hearing" is a kind of...):

range; reach (the limits within which something can be effective)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of hearing attentively

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

hearing; listening

Context example:

they make good music--you should give them a hearing

Hypernyms ("hearing" is a kind of...):

perception; sensing (becoming aware of something via the senses)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hearing"):

auscultation (listening to sounds within the body (usually with a stethoscope))

rehearing; relistening (the act of hearing again)

Derivation:

hear (listen and pay attention)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A session (of a committee or grand jury) in which witnesses are called and testimony is taken

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the investigative committee will hold hearings in Chicago

Hypernyms ("hearing" is a kind of...):

session (a meeting for execution of a group's functions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hearing"):

confirmation hearing (a hearing held by the US Senate to gather information on whether to approve or reject candidates for high federal office who are nominated by the president)

Derivation:

hear (examine or hear (evidence or a case) by judicial process)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The ability to hear; the auditory faculty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

audition; auditory modality; auditory sense; hearing; sense of hearing

Context example:

his hearing was impaired

Hypernyms ("hearing" is a kind of...):

modality; sense modality; sensory system (a particular sense)

exteroception (sensitivity to stimuli originating outside of the body)

Domain member category:

auditory system (the sensory system for hearing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hearing"):

ear (good hearing)

absolute pitch; perfect pitch (the ability to identify the pitch of a tone)

Derivation:

hear (perceive (sound) via the auditory sense)

• HEARING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Able to perceive sound

Similar:

quick-eared; sharp-eared (having keen hearing)

Antonym:

deaf (lacking or deprived of the sense of hearing wholly or in part)

 Context examples 

Studies of the interactions between mind and physiology in relation to hearing perception.

(Auditory Psychophysics, NCI Thesaurus)

I cannot be afraid of hearing anything you wish to say.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The science concerned with the normal processes of hearing

(Auditory Physiology, NCI Thesaurus)

“I am very much obliged to you, indeed,” said Traddles, on hearing it was to be sent to where he lived, that night.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Loke's hearing abilities are on a par with the hearing of the toothed whale and the seal.

(Marine Birds Can Hear Under Water, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Hearing loss caused by a problem along the pathway from the inner ear to the auditory region of the brain or in the brain itself.

(Central Hearing Loss, NCI Thesaurus)

Having to do with the ear and the sense of hearing.

(Auditory, NCI Dictionary)

This means that children with mild hearing impairment might not be detected until later in childhood, if at all.

(Mild-to-moderate hearing loss in children leads to changes in how brain processes sound, University of Cambridge)

Of or relating to the process of hearing.

(Auditory, NCI Thesaurus)

Bilateral lesions of the auditory pathways are usually required to cause central hearing loss.

(Central Hearing Loss, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)