See play by ear in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for play by ear meaning in English (7.3kB)
{
"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"
],
[
"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": "95 5",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "憑記憶演奏"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "píng jìyì yǎnzòu",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "凭记忆演奏"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "soittaa korvakuulolta"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "jouer à l’oreille"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de oído"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "nach Gehör spielen"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "grać ze słuchu"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de memória"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"note": "in imitation of a performance",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de ouvido"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "cânta după ureche"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de memoria"
},
{
"_dis1": "95 5",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "tocar de oído"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "16 84",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "If they ask for something we didn't prepare, we will have to play it by ear.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To do by guessing, intuition, or trial and error; to react to events as they occur, often with risk of negative outcomes; improvise"
],
"id": "en-play_by_ear-en-verb-FyxaSOvz",
"links": [
[
"guess",
"guess"
],
[
"intuition",
"intuition"
],
[
"trial",
"trial"
],
[
"error",
"error"
],
[
"react",
"react"
],
[
"event",
"event"
],
[
"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; improvise"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "fly by the seat of one's pants"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "make it up as one goes along"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"sense": "do by guessing, intuition, etc, reacting to events as they occur",
"word": "wing it"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"intransitive",
"transitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "看情況"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "kàn qíngkuàng",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "看情况"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "到時候再說"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dào shíhou zàishuō",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "到时候再说"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "湊合"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "còuhe",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "凑合"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "見機行事"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jiànjīxíngshì",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "见机行事"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "tehdä sormituntumalta"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improviser"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improvisieren"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "spontan entscheiden"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "es auf sich zukommen lassen"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "es nehmen, wie es kommt"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"colloquial"
],
"word": "sehen"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "kucken"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "andare a sentimento"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "improwizować"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "puszczać na żywioł"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "puścić na żywioł"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "improvisar"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "déjstvovatʹ po obstojátelʹstvam",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "де́йствовать по обстоя́тельствам"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"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",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "play by ear"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs"
],
"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"
],
[
"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 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"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To do by guessing, intuition, or trial and error; to react to events as they occur, often with risk of negative outcomes; improvise"
],
"links": [
[
"guess",
"guess"
],
[
"intuition",
"intuition"
],
[
"trial",
"trial"
],
[
"error",
"error"
],
[
"react",
"react"
],
[
"event",
"event"
],
[
"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; 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",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"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",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "憑記憶演奏"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "píng jìyì yǎnzòu",
"sense": "play music guided by one's musical ear",
"word": "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",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "看情況"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "kàn qíngkuàng",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "看情况"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "到時候再說"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dào shíhou zàishuō",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "到时候再说"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "湊合"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "còuhe",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "凑合"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "見機行事"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jiànjīxíngshì",
"sense": "do by guessing",
"word": "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"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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.
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