1. properly: Matthew 13:16; Mark 7:33; Luke 22:50; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 12:16; ὦτα τίνος εἰς δέησιν, to hear supplication, 1 Peter 3:12; ἡ γραφή πληροῦται ἐν τοῖς ὠσί τίνος, while present and hearing, Luke 4:21 (Baruch 1:3f); those unwilling to hear a thing are said συνέχειν (which see 2 a.) τά ὦτα, to stop their ears, Acts 7:57; ἠκούσθη τί εἰς τά ὦτα τίνος, something was heard by, came to the knowledge of (A. V. came to the ears of) one, Acts 11:22; likewise ἐισέρχεσθαι, James 5:4; γίνεσθαι, to come unto the ears of one, Luke 1:44; ἀκούειν εἰς τό οὖς, to hear (A. V. in the ear i. e.) in familiar converse, privately, Matthew 10:27 (εἰς οὖς often so in classical Greek; cf. Passow (Liddell and Scott), under the word, 1); also πρός τό οὖς λαλεῖν, Luke 12:3.

2. metaphorically equivalent to: the faculty of perceiving with the mind, the faculty of understanding and knowing: Matthew 13:16; ὁ ἔχων (or εἰ τίς ἔχει) ὦτα (or οὖς, in Rev.) (sometimes (especially in Mark and Luke) with ἀκούειν added; cf. Buttmann, § 140, 3) ἀκουέτω, whoever has the faculty of attending and understanding, let him use it, Matthew 11:15; Matthew 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Mark 7:16 (T WH omit; Tr brackets the verse); Luke 8:8; Luke 14:35 (34); Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; Revelation 3:6, 13, 22; Revelation 13:9; τοῖς ὠσί βαρέως ἀκούειν, to be slow to understand or obey (A. V. their ears are dull of hearing), Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27 (from Isaiah 6:10); ὦτα ἔχοντες οὐκ ἀκούετε, Mark 8:18; ὦτα τοῦ μή ἀκούειν, (ears that they should not hear; cf. Buttmann, 267 (230)), Romans 11:8; θέσθε τούς λόγους τούτους εἰς τά ὦτα (A. V. let these words sink into your ears i. e.) take them into your memory and hold them there, Luke 9:44; ἀπερίτμητος τοῖς ὦσιν (see ἀπερίτμητος), Acts 7:51.