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• lean
  lean

  verb (used without object)

  to incline or bend from a vertical position.
• Lean
  Lean

  noun

  David, 1908–91, British film director.

lean

¹ American  

[leen] / lin /

verb (used without object)

• leans,
  present (3rd person singular)
• leaned,
  past participle,  past
• leant,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• leaning
  present participle

1. to incline or bend from a vertical position.

   She leaned out the window.

2. to incline, as in a particular direction; slant.

   The post leans to the left.

   The building leaned sharply before renovation.

3. to incline in feeling, opinion, action, etc..

   to lean toward socialism.

4. to rest against or on something for support.

   to lean against a wall.

5. to depend or rely (usually followed by on orupon ).

   someone he could lean on in an emergency.

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verb (used with object)

• leans,
  present (3rd person singular)
• leaned,
  past participle,  past
• leant,
  past participle,  past (especially British)
• leaning
  present participle

1. to incline or bend.

   He leaned his head forward.

2. to cause to lean or rest; prop.

   to lean a chair against the railing.

noun

1. the act or state of leaning; inclination.

   The tower has a pronounced lean.

verb phrase

1. lean on

   1. to exert influence or pressure on in order to gain cooperation, maintain discipline, or the like.

      The state is leaning on the company to clean up its industrial wastes.

   2. to criticize, reprimand, or punish.

      I would have enjoyed school more if the teachers hadn't leaned on me so much.

2. lean in

   1. to shift one's body weight forward or toward someone or something.

      Because Don was whispering, I had to lean in so I could hear him.

      He stood near home plate and leaned in for the pitch.

   2. to embrace risk, be assertive, etc., as to achieve the greatest level of success in the workplace.

      She really knows how to lean in—she'll have a corner office before long.

idioms

1. lean over backward(s). bend.

lean ² American  

[leen] / lin /

adjective

• leaner,
  comparative
• leanest
  superlative

1. (of persons or animals) without much flesh or fat; not plump or fat; thin.

   lean cattle.

   Synonyms:

   lanky, lank, skinny

   Antonyms:

   fat

2. (of edible meat) containing little or no fat.

   Antonyms:

   fat

3. lacking in richness, fullness, quantity, etc.; poor.

   a lean diet; lean years.

   Synonyms:

   jejune, unfruitful, barren, sparse

   Antonyms:

   fruitful

4. spare; economical.

   a lean prose style.

5. Automotive. (of a mixture in a fuel system) having a relatively low ratio of fuel to air (contrasted with rich).

6. (of paint) having more pigment than oil.

7. Nautical. (of a bow) having fine lines; sharp.

8. Metallurgy. (of ore) having a low mineral content; low-grade.

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noun

1. the part of flesh that consists of muscle rather than fat.

2. the lean part of anything.

3. Typesetting. matter that is difficult to set because of complexity or intermixed fonts.

Lean ³ American  

[leen] / lin /

noun

1. David, 1908–91, British film director.

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lean ¹ British  

/ liːn /

adjective

1. (esp of a person or an animal) having no surplus flesh or bulk; not fat or plump

2. not bulky or full

3. (of meat) having little or no fat

4. not rich, abundant, or satisfying

5. (of a mixture of fuel and air) containing insufficient fuel and too much air

   a lean mixture

6. (of printer's type) having a thin appearance

7. (of a paint) containing relatively little oil

8. (of an ore) not having a high mineral content

9. (of concrete) made with a small amount of cement

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noun

1. the part of meat that contains little or no fat

lean ² British  

/ liːn /

verb

1. to rest or cause to rest against a support

2. to incline or cause to incline from a vertical position

3. (intr; foll by to or towards) to have or express a tendency or leaning

4. informal to make a special effort, esp in order to please

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noun

1. the condition of inclining from a vertical position

Lean ³ British  

/ liːn /

noun

1. Sir David. 1908–91, English film director. His films include In Which We Serve (1942), Blithe Spirit (1945), Brief Encounter (1946), Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist (1948), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984)

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Usage

What else does lean mean? Content warning: this article contains references to drug abuse. In slang, lean is a term for prescription-strength cough syrup mixed with soft drinks and candy. It’s also known by such other names as purple drank or sizzurp.

Synonym Usage

See thin.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• leanness
  noun
• leanly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• leaner
  comparative
• leanest
  superlative

Participles

• leaning
  present
• leaned
  past
• leant
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lean
  simple
• leans
  simple
• have leaned
  perfect
• have leant
  perfect
• has leaned
  perfect
• has leant
  perfect
• am leaning
  progressive
• are leaning
  progressive
• is leaning
  progressive
• have been leaning
  perfect progressive
• has been leaning
  perfect progressive

Past

• leaned
  simple
• leant
  simple
• had leaned
  perfect
• had leant
  perfect
• was leaning
  progressive
• were leaning
  progressive
• had been leaning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lean
  simple
• will have leaned
  perfect
• will have leant
  perfect
• will be leaning
  progressive
• will have been leaning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lean¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English lenen, Old English hleonian, hlinian; cognate with German lehnen; akin to Greek klī́nein, Latin -clīnāre “to incline ”

Origin of lean²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English lene, lein(e), Old English hlǣne

Explanation

If you lean on something, you incline your body against it, like the way you lean against a wall while waiting in line. If you lean on a person, you rely on her for moral support, like the way you lean on your best friend when you're feeling sad or worried. If you’re tired, lean back in your chair. If you’re broke, lean on your family for financial help. But something can lean all by itself, if it’s not standing straight. The famous Tower of Pisa leans at an angle of about 4 degrees. As an adjective, we use lean to describe something skimpy or lacking excess flesh. When you're experiencing financial difficulty, you could say you're going through lean (not prosperous) times.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lean Lean leaner leanest leans leaned leant leaning

Startup accelerator Y Combinator says the lean approach can yield success.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

But while Bellamy says he is keen to lean on Williams' defensive know-how, it will still be the former Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle forward's managerial message.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

If he must stand up, he’s placed behind a generously sized podium, robust enough to handle the full body-weight of his lean.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026

"I wanted to really lean into the horror, and that slow sense of dread that the games have done so well across all of them," Cregger said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

He had round glasses, and he was lean, sharp rather than soft, with heavy eyebrows and a handful of freckles.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Shopkeeper Dayana Lean, 51, said that "zones one and three" of the complex were the hardest hit.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

Much of his scorn, for example, is directed at the millennial Lean In crowd that wanted women to be more like successful men—ambitious and loud.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026

Or Sheryl Sandberg, whose Lean In Foundation now hawks AI to women; in March, Sandberg joined the board of directors of Nscale, a British data-center startup.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

On Tuesday, Sandberg announced that Bridget Griswold, 25, was taking over as chief executive of Lean In, pointing to her background in artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026

“This polo brand-new. Lean on Sierra, her T-shirt been around since the seventies.”

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

Han said this leaner version of the company aims to pivot from designing truck bodies to developing and improving software for trucks made by contract factories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

It is easy to see why JLR's chief executive PJ Balaji feels action is necessary to trim costs and make the company leaner.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

"Uber is aiming to create a leaner organization with fewer managerial layers and move faster in investing into growth," Wedbush said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

Northern sled dogs became compact and heavily coated for cold conditions, while hunting dogs near the equator tended to be leaner and better suited to heat.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

The portions at breakfast keep getting smaller and smaller, and even dinner—the only normal-size meal we get—is getting leaner by the day.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

A commonly eaten meat in Australia, kangaroo is the world’s leanest protein and the equivalent of venison in America.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

The CEO concentrated the business, exiting less productive properties and dumping an in-house service arm, and set out a mission to make Pioneer the leanest, profitable and most desirable catch among U.S. shale independents.

From Reuters ● Oct. 16, 2023

It's not a lie - I was never the leanest cricketer in the world, but I won games for franchises.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2023

“Certainly, the paper supply has been the leanest it’s ever been,” said Jim Suver, co-chair of a federal election security working group that focuses on supply chain issues.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2022

Study after study shows that the leanest curriculums are being offered in the highest-poverty areas, despite ample evidence that this is exactly the wrong thing to do.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

“In pop culture, we have introduced an entirely new fandom experience and destination that leans into things like trading cards and collectibles, but also exclusive collaborations, into one cohesive experience,” Sylvester said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

“The Whisper Man” leans heavily on the twists and turns of its propulsive and menacing plot, which occasionally creaks like stairs to that creepy basement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

The chain also leans into the hype of new locations.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

“Ugly Beauty” leans more into the song’s drama than its chord progressions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

He leans against Jacob, who carries the Torah for him, while Isaac gently pulls Mother along on the donkey.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

This is because certain coaches have leaned into the club's roots, while others have tried but failed to move away from those ideas.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

She, too, wanted to research the candidates further; she leaned toward Villegas but was not yet convinced.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

It’s the ambiguous middle that could create a bind: a number soft enough to justify waiting but not soft enough to convince investors who have leaned toward an increase.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

“We pray that they don’t give it away,” he said as we leaned over the boat’s side and looked out at the island over the waves.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

As soon as the fresh drinks arrived, she drained half her glass and leaned back.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Researchers said the work also leant further credence to a theory about humpback whale patterns known as the "Southern Ocean Exchange".

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

The 27-year-old, who won the Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act category at last week's Brit Awards, played a setlist that leant heavily on his recent number one album, The Boy Who Played The Harp.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026

He sought out some professional help but leant largely on friends, family and his faith to change his mentality.

From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026

The family also claims the new authorities have leant on the courts to find them guilty.

From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025

He leant up against the side of the car and shaded his eyes with his hands.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

As a result, Aramco is pushing more crude through Hormuz, leaning on a workaround used more often by its neighbors: ship-to-ship transfers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

“It’ll be by knockout or submission, but I’m leaning more toward a knockout.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

The "Weapons" and "Barbarian" filmmaker did so by leaning into the visual language of video games, shooting the film from the perspective of the protagonist, played by Austin Abrams.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

In other words the hurdles they plan, while still ill-defined, look like they might be quite high - and folk in government, publicly and privately, are leaning into making that point.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Watching him leaning in the doorway makes me think of all the other times Theo has leaned in my doorway.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

• angular
• gangly
• gaunt
• lanky
• rangy
• sinewy
• skinny
• slender
• slim
• sparse
• svelte
• wiry