lean-to

[ leen-too ]

/ ˈlinˌtu /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lean-to ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural lean-tos.

a shack or shed supported at one side by trees or posts and having an inclined roof.

a roof of a single pitch with the higher end abutting a wall or larger building.

a structure with such a roof.

Nearby words

lean and hungry look, lean on, lean over backwards, lean-burn, lean-faced, lean-to, leander, leaner, leangle, leaning, leaning tower of pisa

Origin of lean-to

1425–75; late Middle English; noun use of verb phrase lean to

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lean-to

On the lean-to side is a milk or dairy-room, 88 feet, lighted by a window.
Rural Architecture|Lewis Falley Allen
Under a lean-to that covered a door in the side of the house was a barrel of water and a bench with two basins.
Out of the Depths|Robert Ames Bennet
Then we went into the lean-to, where there were some loose boards in the corner, but they wouldn't do.
Sunny Slopes|Ethel Hueston
The roof thatched to his satisfaction, he broke a quantity of boughs and with some care prepared a bed under the lean-to.
Troop One of the Labrador|Dillon Wallace

Wade, his heart made tender by his own grief, gazed towards the lonesome isolation of the lean-to with moistening eyes.
King Spruce, A Novel|Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for lean-to

lean-to

noun plural -tos

a roof that has a single slope with its upper edge adjoining a wall or building

a shed or outbuilding with such a roof

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012