impatient: He was impatient to get home.
raring: Sarah's here and raring to meet you.
eagle /iː g ə l/ (eagles )
1 N‑COUNT An eagle is a large bird that lives by eating small animals.
2 PHRASE [usu with poss] If you talk about a person's eagle eye , you mean that they are watching someone or something carefully or are very good at noticing things. □ He did the work under the eagle eye of his teacher. □ The Captain's eagle eye swept the room.
ea gle-eyed ADJ If you describe someone as eagle-eyed , you mean that they watch things very carefully and seem to notice everything. □ She makes a brief appearance that only eagle-eyed viewers will spot.
ear ◆◇◇ / I ə r / (ears )
1 N‑COUNT Your ears are the two parts of your body, one on each side of your head, with which you hear sounds. □ He whispered something in her ear. □ I'm having my ears pierced.
2 N‑SING If you have an ear for music or language, you are able to hear its sounds accurately and to interpret them or reproduce them well. □ [+ for ] Moby certainly has a fine ear for a tune. □ [+ for ] An ear for foreign languages is advantageous.
3 N‑COUNT [oft adj N ] Ear is often used to refer to people's willingness to listen to what someone is saying. □ What would cause the masses to give him a far more sympathetic ear? □ They had shut their eyes and ears to everything.
4 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The ears of a cereal plant such as wheat or barley are the parts at the top of the stem, which contain the seeds or grains.
5 PHRASE If someone says that they are all ears , they mean that they are ready and eager to listen. [INFORMAL ]
6 PHRASE If a request falls on deaf ears or if the person to whom the request is made turns a deaf ear to it, they take no notice of it. □ I hope that our appeals will not fall on deaf ears. □ He has turned a resolutely deaf ear to American demands for action.
7 PHRASE If you keep or have your ear to the ground , you make sure that you find out about the things that people are doing or saying. □ Jobs in manufacturing are relatively scarce but I keep my ear to the ground.
8 PHRASE If you lend an ear to someone or their problems, you listen to them carefully and sympathetically. □ They are always willing to lend an ear and offer what advice they can.
9 PHRASE If you say that something goes in one ear and out the other , you mean that someone pays no attention to it, or forgets about it immediately. □ That rubbish goes in one ear and out the other.
10 PHRASE If someone says that you will be out on your ear , they mean that you will be forced to leave a job, an organization or a place suddenly. [INFORMAL ] □ We never objected. We'd have been out on our ears looking for another job if we had.
11 PHRASE If you play by ear or play a piece of music by ear , you play music by relying on your memory rather than by reading printed music. □ Neil played, by ear, the music he'd heard his older sister practising.
12 PHRASE If you play it by ear , you decide what to say or do in a situation by responding to events rather than by following a plan which you have decided on in advance.
13 PHRASE If you are up to your ears in something, it is taking up all of your time, attention, or resources. □ He was desperate. He was in debt up to his ears.
14 music to your ears → see music
15 wet behind the ears → see wet
ear|ache / I ə re I k/ (earaches ) N‑VAR Earache is a pain in the inside part of your ear.
ea r ca|nal (ear canals ) N‑COUNT Your ear canal is the tube that opens in your outer ear and leads inside your ear. □ Hearing can be affected by ear wax blocking the ear canal.
ear|drum / I ə r drʌm/ (eardrums ) also ear drum N‑COUNT Your eardrums are the thin pieces of tightly stretched skin inside each ear, which vibrate when sound waves reach them.
ear|ful / I ə r fʊl/ N‑SING If you say that you got an earful , you mean that someone spoke angrily to you for quite a long time. [INFORMAL ] □ I bet Sue gave you an earful when you got home.
earl /ɜː r l/ (earls ) N‑COUNT An earl is a British nobleman. □ …the first Earl of Birkenhead.
earl|dom /ɜː r ldəm/ (earldoms ) N‑COUNT An earldom is the rank or title of an earl.
ear|li|er ◆◆◇ /ɜː r liə r /
1 Earlier is the comparative of early .
2 ADV [ADV with v] Earlier is used to refer to a point or period in time before the present or before the one you are talking about. □ As mentioned earlier, the University supplements this information with an interview. □ Earlier, it had been hoped to use the indoor track. □ …political reforms announced by the President earlier this year. □ Many years earlier, Grundy had given The Beatles their first television break. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Earlier is also an adjective. □ Earlier reports of gunshots have not been substantiated.
ear|li|est /ɜː r li I st/
1 Earliest is the superlative of early .
2 PHRASE At the earliest means not before the date or time mentioned. □ The first official results are not expected until Tuesday at the earliest.
ear|lobe / I ə r loʊb/ (earlobes ) also ear lobe N‑COUNT Your earlobes are the soft parts at the bottom of your ears.