LEAN (leant)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: leant   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lean mean? 

• LEAN (noun)
  The noun LEAN has 1 sense:

1. the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical

  Familiarity information: LEAN used as a noun is very rare.

• LEAN (adjective)
  The adjective LEAN has 4 senses:

1. lacking excess flesh

2. lacking in mineral content or combustible material

3. containing little excess

4. not profitable or prosperous

  Familiarity information: LEAN used as an adjective is uncommon.

• LEAN (verb)
  The verb LEAN has 5 senses:

1. to incline or bend from a vertical position

2. cause to lean or incline

3. have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined

4. rely on for support

5. cause to lean to the side

  Familiarity information: LEAN used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

inclination; lean; leaning; list; tilt

Context example:

he walked with a heavy inclination to the right

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)

• LEAN (adjective)

Comparative: leaner   
Superlative: leanest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking excess flesh

Synonyms:

lean; thin

Context example:

Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look

Similar:

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

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)

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:

Lacking in mineral content or combustible material

Context example:

lean fuel

Antonym:

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

Derivation:

leanness (the quality of being meager)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Containing little excess

Synonyms:

lean; skimpy

Context example:

a skimpy allowance

Similar:

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

Derivation:

leanness (the quality of being meager)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Not profitable or prosperous

Context example:

a lean year

Similar:

unprofitable (producing little or no profit or gain)

Derivation:

leanness (the quality of being meager)

• LEAN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they lean    ... he / she / it leans   
Past simple: leaned    / leant   
Past participle: leaned    / leant   
-ing form: leaning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To incline or bend from a vertical position

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

angle; lean; slant; tilt; tip

Context example:

She leaned over the banister

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 2

Meaning:

Cause to lean or incline

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

He leaned his rifle against the wall

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:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

be given; incline; lean; run; tend

Context example:

He inclined to corpulence

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

Rely on for support

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

We can lean on this man

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

trust (have confidence or faith in)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 5

Meaning:

Cause to lean to the side

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

lean; list

Context example:

Erosion listed the old tree

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

 Context examples 

I remembered Michelet and leaned my head against her; and truly I became strong again.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Beth started, leaned forward, smiled and nodded, watched the passer-by till his quick tramp died away, then said softly as if to herself, "How strong and well and happy that dear boy looks."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The squire raised his gun, the rowing ceased, and we leaned over to the other side to keep the balance, and all was so nicely contrived that we did not ship a drop.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Holmes leaned back in the carriage, and the conversation ceased.

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

Mr. Darcy, who was leaning against the mantelpiece with his eyes fixed on her face, seemed to catch her words with no less resentment than surprise.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I threw down the oar, and leaning my head upon my hands, gave way to every gloomy idea that arose.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

His body leaned forward from the hips.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He had spread out his big map of London and leaned eagerly over it.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I leaned my head round it in order to see what was beyond, and I nearly fell out of the tree in my surprise and horror at what I saw.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Hans staggered back against the wall, where he leaned, his face working, in his throat the deep and continuous rumble that died away with the seconds and at last ceased.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)