earful

English

Etymology

ear +‎ -ful

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɪə(ɹ)fəl/, /ˈɪə(ɹ)fʊl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪɹfəl/, /ˈɪɹfʊl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)fʊl, -ɪə(ɹ)fəl

Noun

earful (plural earfuls or earsful)

1. (informal) an angry reprimand, castigation or telling off

   give someone an earful

   • 6 September 2013, Daniel Taylor, “Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     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.

2. (informal) intimate gossip

Derived terms

• give someone an earful

Translations

castigation

• Finnish: läksytys (fi)
• Italian: cazziata (it) f, cazziatone (it) m, lavata di capo f
• Maori: kaikai taringa
• Portuguese: bronca (pt) f, sabão (pt) m (Brazil)
• Russian: вы́говор (ru) m (výgovor), суро́вая кри́тика (suróvaja krítika), бичева́ние (ru) n (bičevánije)

intimate gossip

• Finnish: juoru (fi)

Anagrams

• Laufer, ferula