I. ˈlēn verb
( leaned ˈlēnd, chiefly Brit ˈlent ; or chiefly British leant ˈlent ; leaned or chiefly British leant ; leaning ; leans )
Etymology: Middle English lenen, from Old English hleonian, hlinian; akin to Old Saxon hlinōn to lean, Old High German hlinēn to lean, Latin clinare to bend, incline, Greek klinein to lean, Sanskrit śrayate he leans on
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to incline, deviate, or bend from a vertical position
leaned forward to get a better look
: be in an inclining position
this fence leans badly
b. : to incline or bend so as to receive support : cast one's weight by inclining or bearing down to one side
lean on me as we walk
leaned on his staff
c. : to put the weight of one's body into a stroke
leaned into another inviting pitch — New York Times
2. now chiefly Scotland : to sit or lie down — usually used with down
3. : to rest, rely, or draw for support or inspiration — used with on or upon
preferring not to lean on his father in building a career — Current Biography
this room not only leans on the past but improves on it — Edgar Kaufmann
leans heavily upon certain modern clichés — R.D.Altick
eastern Brazilians lean more heavily on the sweet potato — R.H.Lowie
4. : to incline in opinion, taste, or desire
leaned toward a teaching career — Current Biography
lean to the belief that there was foul play — S.H.Adams
leans toward the native dishes — A.L.Himbert
transitive verb
1. : to cause to lean : incline , rest
leaned her head upon her arm — Pearl Buck
lean the board against the wall
2. now chiefly Scotland : to seat or lay (oneself) — usually used with down
•
- lean over backward
II. noun
( -s )
: the act or an instance of leaning : slope , inclination
the lean of a sail
the wall has a decided lean
body lean is apparent only on the sharpest of curves — Walt Woron
III. adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English leene, lene, from Old English hlǣne
1.
a. : lacking flesh : not plump : thin , lank
a lean body
a lean man
lean cattle
b. : having little fat or free from fat : chiefly or wholly of muscle
eats only lean meat
2. : lacking richness, sufficiency, or productiveness: as
a. : lacking nutritive quality : mean , meager
supped on lean fare
b. : poor , scanty
ample profits will produce better goods and services than lean profits — Report of American Tel & Tel. Co.
lean material resources
lean tax collections — New York Times
c. : attended or characterized by privation, hardship, or scarcity
a lean life, that of a college professor — A.W.Long
important as a source of food after a lean winter — F.C.Lincoln
came upon lean days — Anatole Chujoy
d. : unproductive , infertile
never ceased to love the lean red soil — Josephine Y. Case
attempts to make lean soils yield — American Guide Series: Michigan
e. : scantily furnished or provided : deficient
a paper that was slim in size and lean on news — W.A.Swanberg
this year, so lean in its new plays — John Mason Brown
f. printing
(1) : not susceptible of fast and easy setting and hence unprofitable as piecework — contrasted with phat
(2) : thin , slender
type with a lean face
a lean stroke in a letter
3. : deficient in some essential or important quality or ingredient: as
a. of clay : deficient in plasticity
b. of coal : deficient in volatile matter
c. of lime : containing impurities and not slaking freely
d.
(1) of ore : containing little valuable mineral
(2) of an alloy : dilute
e. : low in combustible component — used especially of fuel mixtures for internal-combustion engines; opposed to rich
if the gasoline-air mixture is too lean (too much air) excess air passes out the exhaust — Irving Frazee
f. : deficient in cementing material — used especially of concrete and mortars
4. : characterized by an artistically effective economy of style or expression : not lush : not verbose
an orchestral suite … is lean , supple and sure — New Yorker
lean , compact writing that implies as much as it states — Stanley Cooperman
his diction … is lean , his imagery precise — Herbert Read
retold in lean and forthright prose — Word Study
Synonyms:
spare , lank , lanky , gaunt , rawboned , angular , skinny , scrawny : lean stresses lack of fat and of rounded contours
a lean face with prominent cheekbones
described as lean and wiry … six feet tall and weighs 170 pounds — Current Biography
spare may suggest an easy sinewy frame resulting from lack of excess
his spare, not unsolid, but unobtrusive figure — John Galsworthy
the spare, alert, and jaunty figure that one often finds in army men — Thomas Wolfe
lank may suggest tallness as well as leanness, sometimes suggesting the wiry strength of an economical build, sometimes connoting the effects of wasting away
the hounds were fine beasts, they seemed lank and swift — Elizabeth M. Roberts
meager and lank with fasting grown, and nothing left but skin and bone — Jonathan Swift
lanky may suggest a leanness accompanied by loose-jointed articulation or by callow awkwardness
Lincoln, an awkward, lanky giant — Allan Nevins & H.S.Commager
very tall and lanky, all wrists and ankles — Margaret Deland
gaunt may suggest a bony haggard leanness resulting from continued strain and undernourishment
this one with the passing of the years had grown lean and gaunt and the rocklike bones of her face stood forth and her eyes were sunken — Pearl Buck
always a very lean boy, but now he is looking positively gaunt — Compton Mackenzie
rawboned describes persons not noticeably fat but stresses large often ungainly build
a long, gawky, rawboned Yorkshireman — Rudyard Kipling
tall, lean, stooping, rawboned, with coarse features — V.L.Parrington
angular applies to leanness accompanied by a degree of graceless stiffness
angular face and straight hair rather unattractive — Dorothy Sayers
the thin, angular woman, with her haughty eye and her acrid mouth — Lytton Strachey
skinny may suggest noticeable thinness resulting from inadequate food and suggesting lack of vitality
the skinniest human being I ever saw. He had not enough flesh on his bones to make a decent-sized chicken — Robert Lynd
scrawny is closely synonymous with skinny but may suggest an underlying toughness
scrawny kid, all legs and arms — Agatha Christie
they were scrawny and underfed and “pinched their guts” with their belts for lack of food — American Guide Series: Tennessee
IV. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English lenen, from Old English hlǣnian, from hlǣne, adjective
1. : to make lean
leaned down for travel — A.B.Guthrie
leaned out by his illness — Time
specifically : to make (a fuel mixture) lean — often used with out
2. : to cut the lean from (whale blubber)
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English lene, from leene, lene, adjective
: the part of flesh which consists principally of muscle without the fat : lean meat
VI. verb
•
- lean on