keep an/(one's) ear to the ground

To listen for any indication of what is happening or will happen. A: "I'm not sure what's going to happen with this merger, so I'm keeping an ear to the ground." B: "Please let me know if you hear anything." I know Kim is keeping her ear to the ground in case word gets out about the promotion.

Fig. to devote attention to watching or listening for clues as to what is going to happen. John had his ear to the ground, hoping to find out about new ideas in computers. His boss told him to keep his ear to the ground so that he'd be the first to know of a new idea.

If you keep your ear to the ground or have your ear to the ground, you make an effort to be aware of what is happening around you. Keep your ear to the ground. Know who is coming and who is going: a new vacancy could be an opportunity for you. Paul had his ear to the ground and always knew about future concerts before anyone else Note: In films, Native Americans used to be shown tracking people or animals by listening carefully to the ground for the sound of their footsteps.

To be well informed. The allusion here, one writer conjectures, is to the days of cowboys and Indians, when one literally put one’s ear to the ground in order to hear the sound of horses miles away. An Americanism dating from the late nineteenth century, the term was a cliché by the time Stanley Walker poked fun at it (and two others) in The Uncanny Knacks of Mr. Doherty (1941): “He had his ear to the ground and his eye on the ball while they were sitting on the fence.”