gleaner

American  

[glee-ner] / ˈgli nər /

noun

1. a person who gathers small amounts of grain or other produce left behind by regular harvesters, nowadays often for charitable use.

   I volunteered as a gleaner for an agency that collects crop surplus to feed those in need.

2. a person who gathers anything slowly or laboriously.

   As an artist, I am a gleaner of shards and shiny bits to incorporate in my work.

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Etymology

Origin of gleaner

glean ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

It just cannot produce louder calls than it does, because as a descendant of a gleaner it is probably morphologically limited.

From Science Daily • Oct. 27, 2023

And of course Varda herself is the film’s chief gleaner: There is, as she says, “no law governing this type of gleaning — of images, impressions, emotions.”

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2023

The poem is written from the point of view of a female gleaner - someone who collected grain left in fields by harvesters.

From BBC • Sep. 28, 2021

She has always seen herself as something of a gleaner.

From The Guardian • Sep. 21, 2018

Then we saw that the young lady with the sweet voice had a sweet disposition also, for she gave the little gleaner her last sixpence, and sent her home as happy as a bird.

From The Squirrels and other animals Illustrations of the habits and instincts of many of the smaller British quadrupeds by Waring, George

Related Words

• grower
• laborer
• peasant
• producer
• rancher