1. The act or power of perceiving sound; perception of sound; the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived; as, my hearing is good. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear. Job xlii. 5.
Note: Hearing in a special sensation, produced by stimEar.
2. Attention to what is delivered; opportunity to be heard; audience; as, I could not obtain a hearing.
3. A listening to facts and evidence, for the sake of adjudication; a session of a court for considering proofs and determining issues. His last offenses to us Shall have judicious hearing. Shak. Another hearing before some other court. Dryden.
Note: Hearing, as applied to equity cases, means the same thing that the word trial does at law. Abbot.
4. Extent within which sound may be heard; sound; earshot. "She's not
within hearing." Shak.
They laid him by the pleasant shore, And in the hearing of the wave.
Tennyson.
HEARKEN Heark"en, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Hearkened; p. pr. & vb. n. Hearkening.] Etym: [OE. hercnen, hercnien, AS. hercnian, heorcnian, fr. hiéran, h, to hear; akin to OD. harcken, horcken, LG. harken, horken, G. horchen. See Hear, and cf. Hark..]
1. To listen; to lend the ear; to attend to what is uttered; to give heed; to hear, in order to obey or comply. The Furies hearken, and their snakes uncurl. Dryden. Hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you. Deut. iv. 1.
2. To inquire; to seek information. [Obs.] "Hearken after their offense." Shak.
Syn.
— To attend; listen; hear; heed. See Attend, v. i.