glean

American  

[gleen] / glin /

verb (used with object)

1. to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.

2. to gather small amounts of (grain or the like) left behind after a harvest, nowadays often for charitable use.

3. to clear (a field, orchard, etc.) of leftover produce in this way.

   Millet’s painting The Gleaners depicts three peasant women stooping low as they glean a field of wheat.

4. to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.

   Synonyms:

   infer, extract, derive, deduce, reap, gather

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verb (used without object)

1. to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.

2. to gather what is left by reapers.

glean British  

/ ɡliːn /

verb

1. to gather (something) slowly and carefully in small pieces

   to glean information from the newspapers

2. to gather (the useful remnants of a crop) from the field after harvesting

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Other Word Forms

• gleanable adjective
• gleaner noun

Etymology

Origin of glean

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English glenen, from Old French glener, from Late Latin glennāre, ultimately from Celtic

Example Sentences

A sharper picture of mobility can be gleaned from those like the McIntires, who have put down roots and changed their addresses.

From Los Angeles Times

Kothari likes to go deep, often finding new ideas by interviewing customers of companies and following up on tidbits gleaned from industry executives.

From Barron's

Looking to attract more tech investments, the Indian government announced plans over the weekend to give tech firms a 20-year tax break on overseas revenue gleaned from global data services based in India.

From The Wall Street Journal

The singularity limits what can be gleaned from Rehmet’s stunning upset.

From Salon

For all the concentration on reliability, teams were of course trying to glean any snippets they could about relative pace.

From BBC

Related Words

• cull
• deduce
• extract
• garner
• gather
• learn
• reap
• sift