glean
Americanverb (used with object)
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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.
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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)
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to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.
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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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have gleanedperfect
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has gleanedperfect 3rd person singular
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are gleaningprogressive
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have been gleaningperfect progressive
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is gleaningprogressive 3rd person singular
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am gleaningprogressive 1st person singular
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gleanssingular 3rd person
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gleaningparticiple
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has been gleaningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had gleanedperfect
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was gleaningprogressive singular
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had been gleaningperfect progressive
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gleanedsimple
-
gleanedparticiple
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were gleaningprogressive plural
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.
For the people over the age of 30 and not chronically online, the likes of Asher Glean, Nicholas Flannery and Kyra-Mae Turner are probably total unknowns.
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2024
DNA testing ultimately helped sheriff’s investigators to identify the woman as Maritza Glean Grimmett, who was 20 years old at the time of her disappearance.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2024
“Legacies have challenges that start-ups don’t,” said Rabbi Elan Babchuck, whose organization the Glean Network brings together faith leaders trying to innovate.
From Washington Post • Apr. 15, 2022
Glean why the buyer is shopping for a car and what functions she’s hoping it will perform.
From Forbes • Nov. 25, 2014
“Maybe you and I can split off from Goddard. Glean at our own speed, in our own way.”
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.
