glean
[gleen]
- to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
- to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers.
- to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.
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- to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.
- to gather what is left by reapers.
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Origin of glean
1350–1400; Middle English glenen < Old French glener < Late Latin glennāre ≪ Celtic
Synonyms
See more synonyms for glean on Thesaurus.com3. garner, deduce, infer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for glean
Contemporary Examples
By presenting the data in a unified fashion, it makes it easier to glean insights.
And you might be able to glean some advance knowledge of new product launches or marketing campaigns.
But there are still many valuable insights that modern politicians can glean from his example.
Lincoln the Primitive Communicator? What He Can Teach Modern PoliticiansDouglas L. Wilson
December 15, 2012
“They wanted to glean good ideas and figured their opponent the CIA was doing it, so they had to do it too,” Grady said.
I also reread writers I admire, and try to glean a phrase or thought that will get me going.
Historical Examples
First came the harvesters; and then those who were content to glean where the others had left.
The BalladistsJohn Geddie
It is out of what I glean from individuals I make up my generalities.'
Lord KilgobbinCharles Lever
Now it remained—and O, the sweetness of it—to glean the harvest of our toil.
The Trail of '98Robert W. Service
Stuart strained his ears to the utmost, but isolated words were all that he could glean.
Plotting in Pirate SeasFrancis Rolt-Wheeler
Formerly I used to glean some news about you from my sisters.
glean
- to gather (something) slowly and carefully in small piecesto glean information from the newspapers
- to gather (the useful remnants of a crop) from the field after harvesting
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French glener, from Late Latin glennāre, probably of Celtic origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for glean
v.
early 14c., from Old French glener (Modern French glaner) "to glean," from Late Latin glennare "make a collection," perhaps from Gaulish (cf. Old Irish do-glinn "he collects, gathers," Celt. glan "clean, pure"). Figurative sense was earlier in English than the literal one of "gather grain left by the reapers" (late 14c.). Related: Gleaned; gleaning.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper