lean on
Britishverb
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Also: lean upon. to depend on for advice, support, etc
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informal to exert pressure on (someone), as by threats or intimidation
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Rely on, depend on, as in He's leaning on me for help . [Mid-1400s]
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Exert pressure on one, especially to obtain something or make one do something against his or her will. For example, The gangsters were leaning on local storekeepers to pay them protection money . [ Colloquial ; mid-1900s]
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.
“Airlines are in the midst of a second fuel shock in less than a year in 2026,” analysts at Citi said in a recent note, adding that luckily, investors can lean on familiar playbooks.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Chicago went 7-4 in one-score games last year, and teams that lean on that kind of good fortune tend to regress the following season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
It is not uncommon for Berta to lean on intermediaries to conduct negotiations, although the approach has had varying degrees of success.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
We could lean on Congress and say: “Once upon a time in 1966, Congress established the statutory protection for handling gifts.”
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
I help Papa to his feet and let him lean on my shoulder.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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.
