Definition

Adjective 1. Having ears or ear-like appendages: Describes something that possesses ears or structures that resemble ears. 2. Worn or shabby from overuse; having corners turned down: Describes the condition of an object, especially the pages of a book, that are worn, frayed, or have folded corners from frequent handling.

Usage Examples

• The eared seal is distinguished from the true seal by its small external ears.
• After years of use, the manual's eared pages showed it was his favorite reference book.
• The botanist studied the eared leaf, noting the two small lobes at its base.

Advanced Usage

• Often used in combination to form compound adjectives that specify the type or quality of ears (e.g., long-eared, floppy-eared, sharp-eared).
  • The sharp-eared guard heard the faint noise from a great distance.
• The sense of being worn is most commonly seen in the fixed compound "dog-eared," which specifically describes book pages with corners turned down from use.
  • She found the passage in her dog-eared copy of the novel.

Variants and Related Words

• Dog-eared (adj.): Having the corners of the pages worn or turned down from use.
• -eared (suffix): Used to form adjectives describing the nature of something's ears (e.g., lop-eared, large-eared).

Synonyms

• For "having ears": auriculate (technical, chiefly botany/zoology).
• For "worn/shabby": frayed, tattered, worn-out, creased.

Related Idioms

• Dog-eared: This is the primary idiomatic usage.
  • His dissertation draft was dog-eared and covered in notes.

Adjective

1. having ears (or appendages resembling ears) or having ears of a specified kind; often used in combination
2. worn or shabby from overuse or (of pages) from having corners turned down
   • a somewhat dog-eared duke...a bit run down-Clifton Fadiman
   • an old book with dog-eared pages