The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hear \Hear\ (h[=e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Heard (h[~e]rd); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Hearing.] [OE. heren, AS,. hi['e]ran,
   h[=y]ran, h[=e]ran; akin to OS. h[=o]rian, OFries. hera,
   hora, D. hooren, OHG. h[=o]ren, G. h["o]ren, Icel. heyra, Sw.
   h["o]ra, Dan. hore, Goth. hausjan, and perh. to Gr.
   'akoy`ein, E. acoustic. Cf. Hark, Hearken.]
   1. To perceive by the ear; to apprehend or take cognizance of
      by the ear; as, to hear sounds; to hear a voice; to hear
      one call.
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            Lay thine ear close to the ground, and list if thou
            canst hear the tread of travelers.    --Shak.
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            He had been heard to utter an ominous growl.
                                                  --Macaulay.
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   2. To give audience or attention to; to listen to; to heed;
      to accept the doctrines or advice of; to obey; to examine;
      to try in a judicial court; as, to hear a recitation; to
      hear a class; the case will be heard to-morrow.
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   3. To attend, or be present at, as hearer or worshiper; as,
      to hear a concert; to hear Mass.
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   4. To give attention to as a teacher or judge.
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            Thy matters are good and right, but there is no man
            deputed of the king to hear thee.     --2 Sam. xv.
                                                  3.
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            I beseech your honor to hear me one single word.
                                                  --Shak.
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   5. To accede to the demand or wishes of; to listen to and
      answer favorably; to favor.
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            I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice.
                                                  --Ps. cxvi. 1.
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            They think that they shall be heard for their much
            speaking.                             --Matt. vi. 7.
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   Hear him. See Remark, under Hear, v. i.

   To hear a bird sing, to receive private communication.
      [Colloq.] --Shak.

   To hear say, to hear one say; to learn by common report; to
      receive by rumor. [Colloq.]
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hearing \Hear"ing\, n.
   1. The act or power of perceiving sound; perception of sound;
      the faculty or sense by which sound is perceived; as, my
      hearing is good.
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            I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear.
                                                  --Job xlii. 5.
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   Note: Hearing in a special sensation, produced by stimulation
         of the auditory nerve; the stimulus (waves of sound)
         acting not directly on the nerve, but through the
         medium of the endolymph on the delicate epithelium
         cells, constituting the peripheral terminations of the
         nerve. See Ear.
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   2. Attention to what is delivered; opportunity to be heard;
      audience; as, I could not obtain a hearing.
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   3. A listening to facts and evidence, for the sake of
      adjudication; a session of a court for considering proofs
      and determining issues.
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            His last offenses to us
            Shall have judicious hearing.         --Shak.
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            Another hearing before some other court. --Dryden.
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   Note: Hearing, as applied to equity cases, means the same
         thing that the word trial does at law. --Abbot.
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   4. Extent within which sound may be heard; sound; earshot.
      "She's not within hearing." --Shak.
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            They laid him by the pleasant shore,
            And in the hearing of the wave.       --Tennyson.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

hearing
    adj 1: able to perceive sound [ant: deaf]
    n 1: (law) a proceeding (usually by a court) where evidence is
         taken for the purpose of determining an issue of fact and
         reaching a decision based on that evidence
    2: an opportunity to state your case and be heard; "they
       condemned him without a hearing"; "he saw that he had lost
       his audience" [syn: hearing, audience]
    3: the range within which a voice can be heard; "the children
       were told to stay within earshot" [syn: earshot,
       earreach, hearing]
    4: the act of hearing attentively; "you can learn a lot by just
       listening"; "they make good music--you should give them a
       hearing" [syn: listening, hearing]
    5: a session (of a committee or grand jury) in which witnesses
       are called and testimony is taken; "the investigative
       committee will hold hearings in Chicago"
    6: the ability to hear; the auditory faculty; "his hearing was
       impaired" [syn: hearing, audition, auditory sense,
       sense of hearing, auditory modality]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

117 Moby Thesaurus words for "hearing":
   Gedankenexperiment, acoustic, amassing evidence, assize, attention,
   audible, audience, audile, audio, audition, auditory,
   auditory range, aural, auricular, bench test, blue book, bugging,
   carrying distance, change of venue, chromesthesia, close inquiry,
   color hearing, conference, court-martial, cross-examination,
   department of investigation, detection, detective work, discussion,
   dry run, ear, earreach, earshot, eavesdropping,
   electronic surveillance, exam, examen, examination,
   exhaustive study, favorable attention, final, final examination,
   five senses, flight test, great go, honors, indagation, inquest,
   inquiry, inquisition, interview, investigation,
   investigative bureau, jury trial, legislative investigation,
   legwork, listening, listening in, meeting, midsemester, midterm,
   mistrial, negotiation, oral, oral examination, otic, otological,
   otopathic, otoscopic, parley, perscrutation, phonic, phonism,
   photism, pilot plan, practical test, practice, prelim, probe, quiz,
   range, reach, receptor, rehearsal, research, road test,
   sense organ, senses, sensillum, sensorium, sensory organ,
   shakedown, shakedown cruise, sifting, sight, sixth sense,
   sleuthing, smell, sound, synesthesia, take-home examination, taste,
   test, test flight, test run, touch, trial, trial by jury,
   trial run, tripos, tryout, viva, wiretapping, witch-hunt, workout,
   written, written examination



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

HEARING, crim. law. The examination of a prisoner charged with a crime or
misdemeanor, and of the witnesses for the accuser.
     2. The magistrate should examine with care all the witnesses for the
prosecution, or so many of them as will satisfy his mind that there is
sufficient ground to believe the prisoner guilty, and that the case ought to
be examined in court and the prisoner ought to be tried. If, after the
hearing of all such witnesses, the offence charged is not made out, or, if
made out, the matter charged is not criminal, the magistrate is bound to
discharge the prisoner.
     3. When the magistrate cannot for want of time, or on account of the
absence of a witness, close the hearing at one sitting, he may adjourn the
case to another day, and, in bailable offences, either take bail from the
prisoner for his appearance on that day, or commit him for a further
hearing. See Further hearing.
     4. After a final hearing, unless the magistrate discharge the prisoner,
it is his duty to take bail in bailable offences, and he is the sole judge
of the amount of bail to be demanded this, however, must not be excessive.
He is the sole judge, also, whether the offence be bailable or not. When the
defendant can give the bail required, he must be discharged; when not, he
must be committed to the county prison, to take his trial, or to be
otherwise disposed of according, to law. See 1 Chit. Cr. Law, 72, ch. 2.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

HEARING, chancery practice. The term, hearing is given to the trial of a
chancery suit.
     2. The hearing is conducted as follows. When the cause is called on in
court, the pleadings on each side are opened in a brief manner to the court
by the junior counsel for the plaintiff; after which the plaintiff's leading
counsel states the plaintiff's case, and the points in issue, and submits to
the court his arguments upon them. Then the depositions (if any) of the
plaintiff's witnesses, and such parts of the defendant's answer as support
the plaintiff's case are read by the plaintiff's solicitor; after which the
rest of the plaintiff's counsel address the court; then the same course of
proceedings is observed on the other side, excepting that no part of the
defendant's answer can be read in his favor, if it be replied to; the
leading counsel for the plaintiff is then heard in reply; after which the
court pronounces the decree, Newl. Pr. 153, 4; 14 Vin. Ab. 233; Com. Dig.
Chancery, T. 1, 2, 3.