lean-to
Americannoun
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a shack or shed supported at one side by trees or posts and having an inclined roof.
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a roof of a single pitch with the higher end abutting a wall or larger building.
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a structure with such a roof.
noun
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a roof that has a single slope with its upper edge adjoining a wall or building
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a shed or outbuilding with such a roof
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lean-to
1425–75; late Middle English; noun use of verb phrase lean to
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.
Our home was a compact, two-story terraced house with a back garden and a little lean-to greenhouse.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
Makeshift lean-to structures dot the overgrown courtyards of their apartment complex where residents gather to cook over fires.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 17, 2022
Before impending nuclear annihilation, a husband paints the windows white and builds a lean-to shelter while his wife frets about his staining the curtains and marking the wallpaper.
From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2022
If you're outside and caught in the storm, find shelter and try to stay dry and cover all exposed body parts, exercise or build a lean-to, windbreak or snow cave and fire for heat.
From Fox News • Oct. 26, 2021
Sometimes a heavy crash and the lean-to shivers.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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.
