Audience. 1) hearing: their copious stories oftentimes begun end without a. (== without being listened to) Ven. 846. “list to your tribunes; a.! peace, I say!” Cor. III, 3, 40. “you yourself have of your a. been most free and bounteous,” Hml. I, 3, 93. “call the noblest to the a.” V, 2, 398. “did gibe my missive out of a.” Ant. II, 2, 74. “the queen of a. nor desire shall fail,” III, 12, 21. to have a. == to be heard: LLL V, 1, 140. As V, 4, 157. Tw. I, 4, 18. John V, 2, 119. to give one a. == to hear one: As III, 2, 251. John III, 3, 37. IV, 2, 139. H4A I, 3, 211. Caes. III, 2, 2. IV, 2, 47. “lending soft a. to my sweet design,” Compl. 278. “vouchsafe me a.” LLL V, 2, 313. Admittance to a sovereign: H5 I, 1, 92. II, 4, 67. Ant. I, 4, 7. III, 6, 18 (in these two passages absolutely: to give a.). Our a. == our being heard or admitted, H4B IV, 1, 76 (cf. your a. == your hearing, Hml. I, 3, 93). A second day of a. == a second court-day: Cor. II, 1, 81.
2) Persons present, witnesses: “dismiss this a.” LLL IV, 3, 209. “'tis meet that some more a. than a mother should o'erhear the speech,” Hml. III, 3, 31. in this a. == before these witnesses, V, 2, 251. Especially the spectators in a playhouse: “if any of the a. hiss,” LLL V, 1, 145. “let the a. look to their eyes,” Mids. I, 2, 28. “no a. are able to endure . . .,” H8 V, 4, 65. Figuratively: the dignity of this act was worth the a. of kings and princes (== spectatorship) Wint. V, 2, 87. “mutes or a. to this act,” Hml. V, 2, 346.
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
hide
Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
