glean
Americanverb (used with object)
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gleans,
present (3rd person singular)
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gleaned,
past participle, past
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gleaning
present participle
-
to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
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to gather small amounts of (grain or the like) left behind after a harvest, nowadays often for charitable use.
-
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.
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to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.
verb (used without object)
-
gleans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gleaned,
past participle, past
-
gleaning
present participle
-
to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.
-
to gather what is left by reapers.
verb
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to gather (something) slowly and carefully in small pieces
to glean information from the newspapers
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to gather (the useful remnants of a crop) from the field after harvesting
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gleansimple
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gleanssimple
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have gleanedperfect
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has gleanedperfect
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am gleaningprogressive
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are gleaningprogressive
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is gleaningprogressive
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have been gleaningperfect progressive
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has been gleaningperfect progressive
Past
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gleanedsimple
-
had gleanedperfect
-
was gleaningprogressive
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were gleaningprogressive
-
had been gleaningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of glean
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English glenen, from Old French glener, from Late Latin glennāre, ultimately from Celtic
Explanation
Glean means to gather bit by bit, either literally or figuratively. You might glean leftover grain from a recently harvested field or glean information about new vocabulary words by hearing them used in context. When you glean information, you sort through ideas and take what you need. Seeing a word in context lets you glean information about how it's used, for example. If you want to find treasures at a thrift shop, you’ll have to glean the good stuff out of the piles of junk. To glean a field means to walk along and see what’s left on the ground. It takes patience to glean.
Vocabulary lists containing glean
List 8
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Scythe
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But what can we glean from Root's previous spell in charge, and what should we expect from his second permanent spell in arguably English cricket's most prestigious position?
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
You always want your work to have impact, you want it to have meaning, you want people to glean something from it that’s relevant to their own lives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
When I was 17, I started an internship at the now-revered magazine Sassy, where I hoped, also secretly, that I might glean some wardrobe intel from the staff of cool twentysomething women.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
Under the partnership, several thousand workers in some of Bosch's 350 facilities worldwide will wear sensor suits to glean training data for Neura robots.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
She wouldn’t have time to glean much of an impression from this one, but even a hint of who he was might prove useful.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
And, who gets to monetize the insights that AI gleans?
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
“Dune: Prophecy” continues HBO’s thematic streak of examining human nature from the heights of wealth and influence, assuming its audience gleans joy from watching the rich cannibalize each other.
From Salon ● Nov. 17, 2024
In the course of his investigation, the commissario interviews one of the garbagemen, or spazzini, from whom he gleans a damning piece of evidence.
From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2021
“That’s what he does. He gleans his creative earth, and he finds what he needs and what he knows that others need.”
From Washington Times ● Jan. 24, 2021
“What if another scythe gleans her during the off years?”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Many of the lessons Trey gleaned from the stars at dad’s work — first with the Angels and then, the last eight years, the Dodgers — came from observing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
It then examined these provisions’ original public meaning, gleaned from the Federalist Papers, Constitutional Convention records and state ratifying convention debates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
When we come in with our insight that is gleaned from actual baristas all over the world, they tend to lean in and they tend to listen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Doctors can be dismissive of the information gleaned from an Apple Watch, and putting that data into electronic medical records is cumbersome when it is possible.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
It was noble that the scythes saw fit to pay homage to the gleaned, but if they only had twelve hours to complete three months worth of business, she didn’t see the sense of it.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Downstairs in the basement, a team of covert listeners followed their chatter, gleaning vital insights into Germany's war plans.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Ultimately, gleaning what is happening in the brain could change anesthesia, helping it to be redesigned or personalized to more closely resemble natural sleep rather than a coma-like one, Helfrich said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
The drovers would forage along the way, picking berries, acorns and gleaning corn for the birds to eat.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
The skeptics in my life believe L’Belle-Tividad may just be really good at collecting information about people, gleaning details from other readings and our demographic data.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
“It makes perfect sense. The threat of gleaning will ensure that the best applicant comes out on top.”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
