See play by ear in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "plays by ear",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "playing by ear",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "played by ear",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "played by ear",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*",
"head": "play by ear"
},
"expansion": "play by ear (third-person singular simple present plays by ear, present participle playing by ear, simple past and past participle played by ear)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Music",
"orig": "en:Music",
"parents": [
"Art",
"Sound",
"Culture",
"Energy",
"Society",
"Nature",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To play guided by one's musical ear, rather than from a written score."
],
"id": "en-play_by_ear-en-verb-MvFC4hxm",
"links": [
[
"music",
"music"
],
[
"play",
"play"
],
[
"guide",
"guide"
],
[
"musical ear",
"musical ear"
],
[
"written",
"written"
],
[
"score",
"score"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive and intransitive, of music) To play guided by one's musical ear, rather than from a written score."
],
"raw_tags": [
"of music"
],
"tags": [
"intransitive",
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "píng jìyì yǎnzòu",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "憑記憶演奏 /凭记忆演奏"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "soittaa korvakuulolta"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "jouer à l’oreille"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de oído"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "nach Gehör spielen"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "grać ze słuchu"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de memória"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"note": "in imitation of a performance",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de ouvido"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "cânta după ureche"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de memoria"
},
{
"_dis1": "94 6",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de oído"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "23 77",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 84",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "18 82",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "13 87",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 78",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "25 75",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 78",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Galician translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 78",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with German translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Italian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "31 69",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "26 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "27 73",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "22 78",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Romanian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 80",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "17 83",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "If they ask for something we didn't prepare, we will have to play it by ear.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2001 August 30, Shakira (lyrics and music), “Whenever, Wherever”, in Laundry Service:",
"text": "There over, hereunder / Or up above, don't wonder / We can always play by ear / But that's the deal, my dear",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To do by guessing, intuition, or trial and error; to react to events as they occur, often with risk of negative outcomes; to improvise."
],
"id": "en-play_by_ear-en-verb-dweHDxnC",
"links": [
[
"guess",
"guess"
],
[
"intuition",
"intuition"
],
[
"trial",
"trial"
],
[
"error",
"error"
],
[
"react",
"react"
],
[
"event",
"event"
],
[
"occur",
"occur"
],
[
"risk",
"risk"
],
[
"negative",
"negative"
],
[
"outcome",
"outcome"
],
[
"improvise",
"improvise"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive and intransitive, idiomatic) To do by guessing, intuition, or trial and error; to react to events as they occur, often with risk of negative outcomes; to improvise."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "fly by the seat of one's pants"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "make it up as one goes along"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 98",
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "wing it"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"intransitive",
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "kàn qíngkuàng",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "看情況 /看情况"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dào shíhou zàishuō",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "到時候再說 /到时候再说"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "còuhe",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "湊合 /凑合"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jiànjīxíngshì",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "見機行事 /见机行事"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "tehdä sormituntumalta"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improviser"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improvisieren"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "spontan entscheiden"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "es auf sich zukommen lassen"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "es nehmen, wie es kommt"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"word": "sehen"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "kucken"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "andare a sentimento"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "improwizować"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "puszczać na żywioł"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "puścić na żywioł"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improvisar"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "déjstvovatʹ po obstojátelʹstvam",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "де́йствовать по обстоя́тельствам"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "improvizírovatʹ",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "импровизи́ровать"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-play by ear.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/23/En-au-play_by_ear.ogg/En-au-play_by_ear.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/En-au-play_by_ear.ogg"
}
],
"word": "play by ear"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Galician translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Italian translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Romanian translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "plays by ear",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "playing by ear",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "played by ear",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "played by ear",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*",
"head": "play by ear"
},
"expansion": "play by ear (third-person singular simple present plays by ear, present participle playing by ear, simple past and past participle played by ear)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"English transitive verbs",
"en:Music"
],
"glosses": [
"To play guided by one's musical ear, rather than from a written score."
],
"links": [
[
"music",
"music"
],
[
"play",
"play"
],
[
"guide",
"guide"
],
[
"musical ear",
"musical ear"
],
[
"written",
"written"
],
[
"score",
"score"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive and intransitive, of music) To play guided by one's musical ear, rather than from a written score."
],
"raw_tags": [
"of music"
],
"tags": [
"intransitive",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "If they ask for something we didn't prepare, we will have to play it by ear.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2001 August 30, Shakira (lyrics and music), “Whenever, Wherever”, in Laundry Service:",
"text": "There over, hereunder / Or up above, don't wonder / We can always play by ear / But that's the deal, my dear",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To do by guessing, intuition, or trial and error; to react to events as they occur, often with risk of negative outcomes; to improvise."
],
"links": [
[
"guess",
"guess"
],
[
"intuition",
"intuition"
],
[
"trial",
"trial"
],
[
"error",
"error"
],
[
"react",
"react"
],
[
"event",
"event"
],
[
"occur",
"occur"
],
[
"risk",
"risk"
],
[
"negative",
"negative"
],
[
"outcome",
"outcome"
],
[
"improvise",
"improvise"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive and intransitive, idiomatic) To do by guessing, intuition, or trial and error; to react to events as they occur, often with risk of negative outcomes; to improvise."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"intransitive",
"transitive"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-play by ear.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/23/En-au-play_by_ear.ogg/En-au-play_by_ear.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/En-au-play_by_ear.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "fly by the seat of one's pants"
},
{
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "make it up as one goes along"
},
{
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "wing it"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "píng jìyì yǎnzòu",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "憑記憶演奏 /凭记忆演奏"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "soittaa korvakuulolta"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "jouer à l’oreille"
},
{
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de oído"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "nach Gehör spielen"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "grać ze słuchu"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de memória"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"note": "in imitation of a performance",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de ouvido"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "cânta după ureche"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de memoria"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de oído"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "kàn qíngkuàng",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "看情況 /看情况"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dào shíhou zàishuō",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "到時候再說 /到时候再说"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "còuhe",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "湊合 /凑合"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jiànjīxíngshì",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "見機行事 /见机行事"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "tehdä sormituntumalta"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improviser"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improvisieren"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "spontan entscheiden"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "es auf sich zukommen lassen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "es nehmen, wie es kommt"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"word": "sehen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "kucken"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "andare a sentimento"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "improwizować"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "puszczać na żywioł"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "puścić na żywioł"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improvisar"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "déjstvovatʹ po obstojátelʹstvam",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "де́йствовать по обстоя́тельствам"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "improvizírovatʹ",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "импровизи́ровать"
}
],
"word": "play by ear"
}
Download raw JSONL data for play by ear meaning in English (6.9kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (eaedd02 and 8fbd9e8). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.