/ liːn; NAmE / verb , adjective , noun
■ verb ( leaned , leaned ) ( BrE also leant , leant / lent; NAmE /)
1.
[ v , usually + adv. / prep. ] to bend or move from a vertical position :
I leaned back in my chair.
The tower is leaning dangerously.
A man was leaning out of the window.
2.
[ v ] lean against / on sth to rest on or against sth for support :
A shovel was leaning against the wall.
She walked slowly, leaning on her son's arm.
3.
[ vn ] lean sth against / on sth to make sth rest against sth in a sloping position :
Can I lean my bike against the wall?
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IDIOMS
see backwards
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PHRASAL VERBS
- lean on sb/sth
- lean to / towards / toward sth
■ adjective ( lean·er , lean·est )
1.
(usually approving ) ( of people, especially men, or animals ) without much flesh; thin and fit :
a lean, muscular body
He was tall, lean and handsome.
2.
( of meat ) containing little or no fat
3.
[ usually before noun ] ( of a period of time ) difficult and not producing much money, food, etc. :
a lean period / spell
The company recovered well after going through several lean years .
4.
( of organizations, etc. ) strong and efficient because the number of employees has been reduced :
The changes made the company leaner and more competitive.
► lean·ness / ˈliːnnəs; NAmE / noun [ U ]
■ noun
[ U ] the part of meat that has little or no fat
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WORD ORIGIN
verb Old English hleonian , hlinian , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch leunen and German lehnen , from an Indo-European root shared by Latin inclinare and Greek klinein .
adjective and noun Old English hlǣne , of Germanic origin.