# listener

/ˈɫɪsənɝ/ (US) · /lˈɪsənɐ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/listener
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. person who listens

noun · CEFR A2

someone who hears a speech, a radio show, or music.

For teachers: an individual who perceives and attends to audio input, such as a broadcast, lecture, or musical performance.

- The radio station has over a million listeners every morning.
- The lecturer paused frequently to ensure that every listener in the hall could follow the complex argument being presented.

### 2. a supportive person

noun · CEFR B1

someone who pays attention to what you say and tries to understand your feelings.

For teachers: a person who provides empathetic attention to a speaker, often in a therapeutic or supportive context.

- She is a very good listener, so I always talk to her when I have a problem.
- Effective leadership requires being an active listener who values the perspectives of every team member before making a final decision.

### 3. event handler

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a piece of computer code that waits for a specific action, like a mouse click, to happen.

For teachers: a function or procedure that waits for a specific event to occur, such as a user interaction or a system state change, and executes a response.

- The programmer added a listener to the button so the page would save when clicked.
- The application performance degraded because too many event listeners were attached to the scroll container, causing significant lag during user interaction.

Usage: Often used in the phrase 'event listener'.

### 4. the ear

noun · CEFR C2 · Slang · Informal

a casual or funny word for a person's ear.

For teachers: a metonymic reference to the organ of hearing.

- Keep your listeners open for any news about the new job.
- He leaned in close, cupping a hand behind his listener to catch the faint whisper in the crowded room.

## Examples

- She is a very good listener who always gives great advice.
- The radio show has millions of regular listeners across the country every morning.
- The developer implemented an event listener to trigger a specific animation whenever the user clicks the primary navigation button.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.