ear-hole

A child gently cleans their ear-hole with a cotton swab.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • The external opening of the ear: "ear-hole" refers to the aperture or passage leading into the ear, commonly called the ear canal. It is the visible opening on the side of the head through which sound enters the auditory system.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • He cleaned his ear-hole carefully with a cotton swab. (The external opening of the ear.)
  • The doctor examined the patient's ear-hole for signs of infection. (The ear canal examined for medical reasons.)

Advanced Usage

• "to whisper in someone's ear-hole": to speak very softly and closely into the ear opening.

  • She leaned over and whispered a secret directly into his ear-hole. (She spoke intimately into his ear canal.)

• "to have a blocked ear-hole": to experience a sensation of obstruction in the ear canal.

  • After swimming, he had a blocked ear-hole that affected his hearing. (The ear canal felt clogged with water or wax.)

Variants and Related Words

• Earhole (n): a less common spelling variant of "ear-hole," meaning the same thing.

  • The child stuck a small bead in his earhole and needed medical attention. (The ear opening.)

• Ear canal (n): the medical term for the passage from the outer ear to the eardrum.

  • The ear canal is about 2.5 centimeters long in adults. (The anatomical structure.)

Synonyms

• Ear opening: the visible entrance to the ear.
• Auditory meatus: the technical anatomical term for the ear canal.

Related Idioms

• "to be all ears": to listen attentively (though not directly about the ear-hole, it relates to the ear).

  • Tell me your story — I'm all ears. (I am listening carefully.)

• "to play it by ear": to improvise or act without a plan (idiom unrelated to the ear-hole but using "ear").

  • We have no schedule, so we'll just play it by ear. (We will decide as we go.)