earball

¹

[ eer-bawl ]

noun

1. the ear or the faculty of listening (usually used in the plural):

   The evening offers a musical program easy on the earballs.

   Give your earballs a workout with my podcasts.

2. an act or instance of listening:

   It would be great if you could put an earball on this strange noise my car is making.

   I heard little of interest on the album during my brief earball in admittedly poor acoustic conditions.

verb (used with object)

1. to listen to, especially in order to check, test, or sample:

   Follow the links below to earball some of this month's newly uploaded tunes.

   Before I leave the patient’s room, I always eyeball and earball everything.

earball

²

[ eer-bawl ]

noun

1. in acupressure, a device for stress relief in the form of a small ball placed in the ear to be pressed as needed.
2. an earplug in the shape of a small round or oval foam ball.

earball

/ ˈɪərˌbɔːl /

noun

1. (in acupressure) a small ball kept in position in the ear and pressed when needed to relieve stress

Word History and Origins

Origin of earball¹

First recorded in 1845–50, for an earlier sense; 1995–2000, for the current sense of the verb; ear ¹( def ) + ball ¹( def ), modeled on eyeball ( def )

Origin of earball²

First recorded in 2005–10, for the current sense; ear ¹( def ) + ball ¹( def )

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. keep one's earballs open, to listen attentively or alertly (often used with for ):

   Keep your earballs open for a couple of great interviews coming up next hour.

   We’ll keep our earballs open and let you know if we hear anything.

2. up to one's / the earballs, deeply involved or occupied to full capacity (often used with in or with ):

   The company is up to its earballs in debt from overexpansion.

   I've been up to my earballs with work this week.