▪ I. earless, a.1
(ˈɪəlɪs)
[f. ear n.1 + -less.]
1. Having no ears: a. of human beings and animals; b. of drinking vessels, etc. (cf. ear n.1 7); c. Conch. of bivalve shells.
| 1611 Cotgr., Essoreillé..earelesse, without eares. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 105 Earless mammot [misspelt for marmot]. 1828 Blackw. Mag. XXIII. 598 He was..earless, eyeless, cheekless, noseless, and chinless. 1854 Woodward Mollusca (1856) 261 Aucella..left umbo prominent, earless. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 136 Dainty little earless china cups. |
2. Destitute of the sense of hearing, or of musical ear. Also poet. of places: Where nothing can be heard.
| 1802 Wordsw. Sonn. To Toussaint l'Ouv., In some deep dungeon's earless den. 1865 Alex. Smith Summ. Skye I. 180 Weary of singing his songs to the earless rocks and sea waves. 1876 C. M. Yonge Womankind vi. 44 Just as the earless are given up as to music. |
▪ II. earless, a.2
(ˈɪəlɪs)
[f. ear n.2]
Of stalks of corn: Destitute of ears.
| ? a 1400 Chester Pl., Death Abel i. (1843) 38 Cain. Thes earles cornes..offer I will to daye. |