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hearing

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hearing things

Having auditory hallucinations. Bob: "Listen, I'm sure that someone is right behind us!" Jack: "Bob, you're hearing things. There's nothing out here but us and the wind."

See also: hearing, thing

hard of hearing

[of someone] unable to hear well or partially deaf. Please speak loudly. I am hard of hearing. Tom is hard of hearing, but is not totally deaf.

See also: hard, hearing, of

hearing impaired

Euph. deaf or nearly deaf. This program is closed-captioned for our hearing-impaired viewers. His mother happens to be hearing impaired, so he learned to sign at an early age.

See also: hearing, impaired

hard of hearing

Somewhat deaf, having a partial loss of hearing. For example, You'll have to speak distinctly; Dad's a little hard of hearing. The use of hard in the sense of "difficulty in doing something" survives only in this expression. [Mid-1500s]

See also: hard, hearing, of

hard of hearing

1. Having a partial loss of hearing.

2. People who have partial loss of hearing, considered as a group.

See also: hard, hearing, of