lean
verb (used without object)
to incline or bend from a vertical position.
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
-
to incline or bend from a vertical position.
She leaned out the window.
-
to incline, as in a particular direction; slant.
The post leans to the left.
The building leaned sharply before renovation.
-
to incline in feeling, opinion, action, etc..
to lean toward socialism.
-
to rest against or on something for support.
to lean against a wall.
-
to depend or rely (usually followed by on orupon ).
someone he could lean on in an emergency.
verb (used with object)
-
leans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
leaned,
past participle, past
-
leant,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
leaning
present participle
-
to incline or bend.
He leaned his head forward.
-
to cause to lean or rest; prop.
to lean a chair against the railing.
noun
verb phrase
-
lean on
-
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.
-
to criticize, reprimand, or punish.
I would have enjoyed school more if the teachers hadn't leaned on me so much.
-
-
lean in
-
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.
-
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
lean
2
American
[leen]
/ lin /
adjective
-
leaner,
comparative
-
leanest
superlative
-
(of persons or animals) without much flesh or fat; not plump or fat; thin.
lean cattle.
- Antonyms:
- fat
-
(of edible meat) containing little or no fat.
- Antonyms:
- fat
-
lacking in richness, fullness, quantity, etc.; poor.
a lean diet; lean years.
- Synonyms:
- jejune, unfruitful, barren, sparse
- Antonyms:
- fruitful
-
spare; economical.
a lean prose style.
-
Automotive. (of a mixture in a fuel system) having a relatively low ratio of fuel to air (contrasted with rich).
-
(of paint) having more pigment than oil.
-
Nautical. (of a bow) having fine lines; sharp.
-
Metallurgy. (of ore) having a low mineral content; low-grade.
noun
-
the part of flesh that consists of muscle rather than fat.
-
the lean part of anything.
-
Typesetting. matter that is difficult to set because of complexity or intermixed fonts.
Lean
3
American
[leen]
/ lin /
noun
lean
1
British
/ liːn /
adjective
-
(esp of a person or an animal) having no surplus flesh or bulk; not fat or plump
-
not bulky or full
-
(of meat) having little or no fat
-
not rich, abundant, or satisfying
-
(of a mixture of fuel and air) containing insufficient fuel and too much air
a lean mixture
-
(of printer's type) having a thin appearance
-
(of a paint) containing relatively little oil
-
(of an ore) not having a high mineral content
-
(of concrete) made with a small amount of cement
noun
lean
2
British
/ liːn /
verb
-
to rest or cause to rest against a support
-
to incline or cause to incline from a vertical position
-
(intr; foll by to or towards) to have or express a tendency or leaning
-
informal to make a special effort, esp in order to please
noun
Lean
3
British
/ liːn /
noun
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
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
leansimple
-
leanssimple
-
have leanedperfect
-
have leantperfect
-
has leanedperfect
-
has leantperfect
-
am leaningprogressive
-
are leaningprogressive
-
is leaningprogressive
-
have been leaningperfect progressive
-
has been leaningperfect progressive
Past
-
leanedsimple
-
leantsimple
-
had leanedperfect
-
had leantperfect
-
was leaningprogressive
-
were leaningprogressive
-
had been leaningperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing lean
"Joyas Voladoras" by Brian Doyle
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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Paltry Parlance: Synonyms for "Few"
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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.
See Examples For:
Three more are potentially competitive: South Carolina, which leans Republican, and Minnesota and New Hampshire, which lean Democratic under Cook’s ratings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
Indie developers often lean on retro games aesthetics not just because people respond well to them – but also because they are easier to achieve.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
“If we do see a continued surge in demand, that would be the kind of thing you might want to lean against,” Barkin said in an interview on “The Business Briefing” on Sirius XM.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Some evidence suggests that when weight returns, the body may regain proportionally more fat than lean tissue.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
Instead, I lean forward to inhale the scent of rotting fruit for a long moment before wrapping the scarf back around my pet pineapple.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Lean is also impeccably attuned to Rosy’s inner life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Only William Wyler and David Lean have pulled it off.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
To eliminate the Sisyphean task of formalizing all relevant mathematics from scratch every time, the Lean enthusiasts decided to create Mathlib—a library of formalized mathematics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The program called Lean was built to detect bugs in Microsoft’s products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Lean tell by the way he leans toward me and says “So? Tell me things!”
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
So first of all, we’re the scrappy, leaner player in the game now.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026
Instead of wide postwar boulevards, roads would become slower and leaner, transforming Long Beach into a top-five global cycling city, said former city traffic engineer Paul Van Dyk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Paramount, the studio behind “The Godfather” and “Titanic,” had threatened to leave its home state, which would be an economic and symbolic blow to a city already suffering from a leaner Hollywood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 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
She was struck again by how he’d grown, how he seemed leaner and stronger and more solid than she’d remembered.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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 leanest pork cuts include the loin, tenderloin, center loin and ham.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
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
"Sell in May and go away" is based on the premise that the best six-month period of the year for stock market returns is November to April, while the leanest is May to October.
From Reuters ● May 5, 2023
The advice to omit needless words should not be confused with the puritanical edict that all writers must pare every sentence down to the shortest, leanest, most abstemious version possible.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Three more are potentially competitive: South Carolina, which leans Republican, and Minnesota and New Hampshire, which lean Democratic under Cook’s ratings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
His music playlist leans heavily on twangy Texas country music.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Longer term, Altavest’s Armbruster suggested that gold prices could be headed higher, particularly if the Federal Reserve leans toward rate cuts in 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
While the ingredients are local, the cuisine leans global, including Thai-style curry made with butternut squash and braised chicken leg served with a roasted pumpkin muhammara.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Then she leans toward me and whispers: “No, really, I was going to ask you, just not in front of everyone.”
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Two candidates leaned toward the proposal and 20 supported it, they found.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
Throughout his campaign, he frequently leaned into his religious upbringing – as the grandson of a Southern Baptist preacher who spent time in a seminary – sprinkling his stump speeches with biblical references.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Wearing her trademark white T-shirt and blue jeans, she leaned through the sunroof of a vehicle to wave to the crowds and shake hands with supporters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
CoreWeave, which arose out of a cryptocurrency-mining operation, has leaned on Nvidia to grow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
After he closed the door behind her, Ba leaned his forehead against the glass.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Nichols suggested this showed the sauropod had stopped and leant on one leg for a moment "as if it's looking back over its left shoulder".
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
His controversial legacy is one she leant into throughout the campaign, promising a tough military crackdown on organised crime, in particular extortion incidents that have soared in recent years.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
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 family also claims the new authorities have leant on the courts to find them guilty.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
Miss Ingram took a book, leant back in her chair, and so declined further conversation.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
In terms of leaning on local officials, that’s where I would be most concerned.
From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2026
One Wall Street veteran said he is leaning toward the latter.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Most cuttingly, the reality TV veteran accused Maher of leaning heavily on canned applause and a laugh track to sell the idea that he’s funny.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
Officials aren’t sure which of those forces policy should be leaning against, or how strongly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
