prick up one's ears

Listen carefully, pay close attention, as in When she heard them mention her boyfriend she pricked up her ears. This term alludes to horses raising their ears at a sudden noise. [Late 1500s]

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Asmaa	-	Arabic
Alphonsus	-	History
Minh	-	Vietnamese
Jalmari	YAHL-mah-ree	Finnish
Mirela	-	Romanian, Croatian
Ayaulym	-	Kazakh