| 释义 |
listener|ˈlɪs(ə)nə(r)|
Also 7–8 listner.
[f. listen v. + -er1.]
1. a. One who listens; an attentive hearer.
1611Cotgr., Escouteur, an hearer, hearkener, listener. a1618Raleigh Maxims St. (1651) 45 To have their Beagles, or listeners in every corner..of the Realm. 1643True Informer 8 They are great listners after any Court news. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables clxx. (1708) 184 'Tis an Old Saying, That List'ners never hear Well of Themselves. 1711Addison Spect. No. 31 ⁋1 This gentleman..was entertaining a whole Table of Listners with the project of an Opera. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi. IV. 592 The streets were stopped up all day by groups of talkers and listeners. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 4 The youthful group of listeners..are..at last convinced by the arguments of Socrates.
b. slang. The ear.
1821Sporting Mag. VII. 274 Sampson was floored from a tremendous wisty-castor, under the listener. 1822Blackw. Mag. XI. 594 A douss on the smeller—a dimmer to the daylights, and a larrup on the listeners. 1827Egan Anecd. Turf 6 Hooper planted another hit under Wood's listner.
2. Fortif. = listening-gallery (see listening vbl. n. 18 b).
1828J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 302 From the envelope gallery are run out..galleries in directions parallel to the capitals of the works... These latter are called listeners. 1833Straith Fortif. §213. 161 The distance between the listeners depends..on the nature of the soil that conveys the sound.
3. One who listens to a broadcast. Also attrib. Also listener-in. Cf. listen v. 2 e, f.
1922Daily Mail 21 Nov. 7 The limited service has already established itself in high favour with ‘listeners-in’. 1923Radio Times 28 Sept. 12/1 It seems to me that the B.B.C. are mainly catering for the ‘listeners’ who own expensive sets. 1926Daily Chron. 13 May 3/1 By the magic of wireless it was, perhaps, the listeners-in who heard it first. 1929Radio Times 8 Nov. 388/1 The recent broadcasting of Aïda has prompted a Forest Hill listener to send in..a very delightful story. 1936B.B.C. Ann. 87/2 The BBC has recently established, at its Head Office, a special unit, with the object of co-ordinating information..and studying new methods of ‘listener research’. 1950,1951[see audience 7 d]. 1970B.B.C. Year Bk. 23 For the great majority of listeners..there will be little evidence of sudden upheaval.
Hence ˈlistenership, the estimated number of listeners to a broadcast programme or to radio (spec. as opp. to television).
1943Business Week 30 Jan. 44 Increased emphasis on news broadcasts and commentators boosted listenership particularly between 5 and 7 p.m. 1958New Statesman 2 Aug. 142/2 In America, reports Time, sound-radio is enjoying a ‘spectacular comeback’; latest figures of ‘listenership’ show it ‘up 8 per cent over last year, 25 per cent over its pre-TV peak in 1947’. 1971Daily Tel. 17 Apr. 19/2 Listenership levels are still an imponderable. It is unlikely that the British public will listen to local radio as much as, say, the Americans. |