WALLS HAVE EARS, THE Definition & Meaning

walls have ears, the

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Idioms and Phrases

The conversation is easily overheard, someone is listening, as in Be careful what you say; the walls have ears . This saying may come from a story about Dionysius of Syracuse (430–367 b.c. ), who had an ear-shaped cave cut and connected between the rooms of his palace so that he could hear what was being said from another room. Similar listening posts were installed in other palaces over the centuries, including the Louvre in Paris. In English the phrase was first recorded in its present form in 1620.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The walls have ears; the dust carries tidings.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from ��t¶�� Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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