earshot
nounUK /ˈɪəˌʃɒt/ · US /ˈɪɹˌʃɑt/
Etymology From ear + shot.
1
Idiomatic, Usually A distance from which sound is still audible.
- I'll row out on the lake but stay within earshot.
- Loola glances about her to make sure that nobody is within earshot, then speaks at last almost in a whisper.1948 August, Aldous Huxley, Ape and Essence, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC:
2 more examples
- When Atticus was out of earshot Jem yelled after him: “I thought I wanted to be a lawyer but I ain’t so sure now!”1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
- Ananda hit the target, an iron drum, from a distance of two earshots. Devadatta, from a distance of four earshots, Sundarananda from a distance of six earshots, and Dandapani [found his target] from one league.2013, Buton Richen Drup, Buton's History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet:
- Synonyms
- sound
- Derived terms
- eyeshot, noseshot, tongueshot