earless meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

earless

adj

UK /ɪə̯ləs/ · US /ɪɹləs/

Etymology From ear + -less.

Lacking ears.

Earless seals are probably more hydrodynamic without ear lobes.
There are but few farmers who have failed to notice the large number of poor and earless stalks in the crop, but few can give any reason. They have often seen a good stalk and a poor one in the same hill—one with perhaps two good ears, the other with none on it. Just so long as we select as we do, and fail to improve on our system of saving seed, we shall have more earless stalks than prolific ones.1883 January, A. E. Blount, “Experiments in Corn Culture”, in Agricultural Review and Journal of the American Agricultural Association, volume III, number 1, page 11:

1 more example

Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2013, pages 206–7:

Derived terms: earless dragon, earless monitor lizard, earlessness, earless seal

noun

UK /ɜːlɛs/ · US /ɝlɛs/

Etymology From earl + -ess.

Nonstandard A countess (a female holder of an earldom or the wife of an earl).

“Don’t you think you could catch this Earl (for Doctor Willett, and he never told a lie in his life, says he is so). You know Arley hasn’t much tact. An earl is better than to be the rich Mrs. Haverhill! An earl’s wife is a duchess, or at least, an earless—” / “A countess, ’ma!”1870, Joseph Holt Ingraham, Annie Temple; Or, The Bankrupt's Heiress: A Home Romance, page 80:
“You see I don’t knew much about titles, as we have only the royal family in Honolulu—she is called an Earless, I suppose.” / “No, a countess. An earl in the English peerage is of the same rank as a count in some of the continental countries. When I come into the title, if I am married, my wife will be Countess of Somerset.”1900, Linn Boyd Porter, A Sugar Princess, page 240:

4 more examples

Here it’s almost indecent to talk of love before marriage, and nearly as bad after, if you’re referring to your husband. And suppose that Céline accepted him, just . . . well, just to be a . . . what-do-you-call-it—earless?” / “Countess.”1914, Francis Prevost, The Uncertain Glory, Lane, John, page 137:
“And if you had,” he puzzled it out, “you would be the—the Earless of Axminster.” / She gave a delighted gurgle of laughter. / “Countess,” she corrected him.1926, The Strand Magazine, volume 72, page 234:
Penny had apparently grown as sick of Southwark Cathedral as had Melrose of his earldom. “Then that means your wife can’t be—what? An earless?” / “Countess.”1984, Martha Grimes, The Dirty Duck, Scribner's, →ISBN:
Finally, Tristan blurted, “Does this mean you’ll be an earless Sophy? No, that can’t be right.” / “Idiot boy,” Caroline pronounced with a scathing look. “There’s no such thing as an earless. Sophy will be a countess. The Countess of Leyburn.”1996, Lois Stewart, A Marriage of Convenience, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 86: