lean-to

[ leen-too ]
See synonyms for lean-to on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural lean-tos.
  1. a shack or shed supported at one side by trees or posts and having an inclined roof.

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

  1. a structure with such a roof.

Origin of lean-to

1
1425–75; late Middle English; noun use of verb phrase lean to

Words Nearby lean-to

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lean-to in a sentence

  • Just behind the barn he built me a lean-to shed, 253 about seventy-five feet long, open toward the east, and shingled rainproof.

    The Idyl of Twin Fires | Walter Prichard Eaton
  • The little hut of the lime-burner was beyond in a hollow, and behind that again was a lean-to, like a small shed or stable.

  • With the best haste he could make he hurried back to the lean-to.

    Left on the Labrador | Dillon Wallace
  • The steps belonged to a sort of lean-to, or outdoor kitchen.

    Dorothy's Travels | Evelyn Raymond
  • With plate and cup be reluctantly approached the little lean-to, and, kneeling, he put his head inside.

British Dictionary definitions for lean-to

lean-to

nounplural -tos
  1. a roof that has a single slope with its upper edge adjoining a wall or building

  2. 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