Library / English Dictionary

    LEAN

    Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

    Irregular inflected form: leant  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

     I. (noun) 

    Sense 1

    Meaning:

    The property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the verticalplay

    Example:

    he walked with a heavy inclination to the right

    Synonyms:

    inclination; lean; leaning; list; tilt

    Classified under:

    Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

    Hypernyms ("lean" is a kind of...):

    position; spatial relation (the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated)

    Derivation:

    lean (cause to lean or incline)

    lean (to incline or bend from a vertical position)

     II. (adjective) 

    Comparative and superlative

    Comparative: leaner  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

    Superlative: leanest  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

    Sense 1

    Meaning:

    Lacking excess fleshplay

    Example:

    Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look

    Synonyms:

    lean; thin

    Classified under:

    Adjectives

    Similar:

    wisplike; wispy (thin and weak)

    sylphic; sylphlike ((of a woman or girl) slender and graceful like a sylph)

    stringy; wiry (lean and sinewy)

    spindle-legged; spindle-shanked (having long slender legs)

    spare; trim (thin and fit)

    slender-waisted; slim-waisted; wasp-waisted (having a small waist)

    slender; slight; slim; svelte (being of delicate or slender build)

    shriveled; shrivelled; shrunken; withered; wizen; wizened (lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness)

    boney; bony; scraggly; scraggy; scrawny; skinny; underweight; weedy (being very thin)

    scarecrowish (resembling a scarecrow in being thin and ragged)

    twiggy; twiglike (thin as a twig)

    reedlike; reedy (resembling a reed in being upright and slender)

    rawboned (having a lean and bony physique)

    lank; spindly (long and lean)

    gangling; gangly; lanky (tall and thin)

    deep-eyed; hollow-eyed; sunken-eyed (characteristic of the bony face of a cadaver)

    cadaverous; emaciated; gaunt; haggard; pinched; skeletal; wasted (very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold)

    anorectic; anorexic (suffering from anorexia nervosa; pathologically thin)

    Also:

    ectomorphic (having a build with little fat or muscle but with long limbs)

    thin (of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section)

    Attribute:

    body weight (the weight of a person's body)

    Derivation:

    leanness (the property of having little body fat)

    Sense 2

    Meaning:

    Not profitable or prosperousplay

    Example:

    a lean year

    Classified under:

    Adjectives

    Similar:

    unprofitable (producing little or no profit or gain)

    Derivation:

    leanness (the quality of being meager)

    Sense 3

    Meaning:

    Lacking in mineral content or combustible materialplay

    Example:

    lean fuel

    Classified under:

    Adjectives

    Antonym:

    rich (high in mineral content; having a high proportion of fuel to air)

    Derivation:

    leanness (the quality of being meager)

    Sense 4

    Meaning:

    Containing little excessplay

    Example:

    a skimpy allowance

    Synonyms:

    lean; skimpy

    Classified under:

    Adjectives

    Similar:

    deficient; insufficient (of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement)

    Derivation:

    leanness (the quality of being meager)

     III. (verb) 

    Verb forms

    Present simple: I / you / we / they lean  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation ... he / she / it leans  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

    Past simple: leaned  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation/leant  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

    Past participle: leaned  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation/leant  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

    -ing form: leaning  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

    Sense 1

    Meaning:

    Rely on for supportplay

    Example:

    We can lean on this man

    Classified under:

    Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

    Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):

    trust (have confidence or faith in)

    Sentence frames:

    Somebody ----s somebody
    Something ----s somebody

    Sense 2

    Meaning:

    Cause to lean or inclineplay

    Example:

    He leaned his rifle against the wall

    Classified under:

    Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

    Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):

    lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

    Sentence frame:

    Somebody ----s something PP

    Sentence example:

    They lean their rifles on the cabinet


    Derivation:

    lean (the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical)

    leaner ((horseshoes) the throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against (but not encircle) the stake)

    Sense 3

    Meaning:

    To incline or bend from a vertical positionplay

    Example:

    She leaned over the banister

    Synonyms:

    angle; lean; slant; tilt; tip

    Classified under:

    Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

    Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):

    bend; flex (form a curve)

    Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lean"):

    incline; pitch; slope (be at an angle)

    weather (cause to slope)

    heel; list (tilt to one side)

    lean back; recline (move the upper body backwards and down)

    Sentence frames:

    Something ----s
    Something is ----ing PP
    Somebody ----s PP

    Also:

    lean against; lean on (rest on for support)

    Derivation:

    lean (the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical)

    leaner ((horseshoes) the throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against (but not encircle) the stake)

    Sense 4

    Meaning:

    Cause to lean to the sideplay

    Example:

    Erosion listed the old tree

    Synonyms:

    lean; list

    Classified under:

    Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

    Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):

    move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

    Verb group:

    heel; list (tilt to one side)

    Sentence frame:

    Something ----s something

    Sense 5

    Meaning:

    Have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclinedplay

    Example:

    He inclined to corpulence

    Synonyms:

    be given; incline; lean; run; tend

    Classified under:

    Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

    Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):

    be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

    Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lean"):

    take kindly to (be willing or inclined to accept)

    suffer (be given to)

    gravitate (move toward)

    Sentence frame:

    Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

    Credits

     Context examples: 

    She felt that she must lean toward him, and resisted by an effort.

    (Martin Eden, by Jack London)

    Somebody was leaning out of my bedroom window, refreshing his forehead against the cool stone of the parapet, and feeling the air upon his face.

    (David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

    The Tin Woodman gave a sigh of satisfaction and lowered his axe, which he leaned against the tree.

    (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

    Hansel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Gretel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes.

    (Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

    All females in the study were adults by time of the 2009 drought, but those born in lean times fared worse in 2009 than those born in times of plenty, the researchers found.

    (Born during a drought: Bad news for baboons, NSF)

    Last night I found her leaning out when I woke up, and when I tried to wake her I could not; she was in a faint.

    (Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

    Its head is in proportion to its body, lean and unwrinkled.

    (Boxer, NCI Thesaurus)

    Positioned with the patient leaning backward.

    (Lordotic Position, NCI Thesaurus)

    The bicycle still leaned against the wall.

    (The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

    On which, leaning forward, he caught his comrade a rousing smack across his rosy cheek.

    (The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)


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