take the wax out of one's ears

English

Verb

take the wax out of one's ears (third-person singular simple present takes the wax out of one's ears, present participle taking the wax out of one's ears, simple past took the wax out of one's ears, past participle taken the wax out of one's ears)

  1. (slang, idiomatic, derogatory, often imperative) To listen more carefully or pay closer attention.
    • 1943, Dorothy Fremont Grant, What Other Answer, page 247:
      Again, you see, they had not listened to me (how I wanted to take the wax out of their ears!), they did not wish to be turned from their pre-conceived notions.
    • 1988, New Zealand, Parliament, House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), Volume 491, page 5824:
      I shall give it to them, and I ask the member for Horowhenua to take the wax out of her ears and sit and listen.
    • 2006, Canada, Parliament, House of Commons, House of Commons Debates, Official Report, Volume 141, Issues 87-97, page 5390:
      It was that party that got us into the mess that we are in today. Maybe my friend should take the wax out of his ears and start listening to what Canada is all about.
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