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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

earful en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɪjə-/ (British, Southern, Standard)
  • (US) audio
  • /-fʊl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈɪɹfəl/ (General-American)
  • /ˈɪəfəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /-fʊl/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈɪːfəl/ (British, Southern, Standard)
  • /-fɵl/ (British, Southern, Standard)

Etymology

From ear + -ful.

Meanings

  1. (informal) an angry reprimand, castigation or telling off
    • give someone an earful
    • Ivan Kruzliak had already taken an earful from Gary Neville at half-time and it was rare to see Hodgson as annoyed as he was while remonstrating with the fourth official. 6 September 2013, Daniel Taylor, “Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban”, in The Guardian:
  2. (informal) intimate gossip

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
earsful Number=Plur lexicographic
earfuls Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

give someone an earful

Translations (12)

pt sabão (castigation) · pt bronca (castigation) · ru вы́говор (castigation) · mi kaikai taringa (castigation) · fi juoru (intimate gossip) · fi läksytys (castigation) · es rapapolvo (castigation) · it cazziatone (castigation) · it lavata di capo (castigation) · it cazziata (castigation) · ru суро́вая кри́тика (castigation) · ru бичева́ние (castigation)