give someone a thick ear—slap a person on his ear, especially as a punishment:
- He’d give you a thick ear if he heard you say that. Or Rosie would. Sam’s too polite.
give someone one’s ear—(formal) listen attentively to a person; pay close attention to smb.’s words:
- If I was struggling with a decision he gave me his ear and some advice.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase give someone an earful—(coll.)
1. give smb. a severe scolding:
- I gave him an earful for not having a fire extinguisher, because he should know better.
2. provide some information to a person:
- I didn’t know much about literature … but he gave me an earful each and every day.