lean
verb (used without object)
to incline or bend from a vertical position.
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to lean.
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:
Early musical shorts like “Morning Walk” and “Danielleanika” lean into his stoic, awkward persona as he pretends to rap or sing a passionate love song.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
SpaceX maintains that it can make back what it spends to add computing power in less than a year, which could limit how much it needs to lean on financing.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
The outlook is set to deteriorate further during the winter lean season from November to April.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
Fall and Maloney said the drink menu will lean classic but include a few new elements, including an au jus-washed martini.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Kathy leaned back, though there was nothing to lean back into, and she crossed her arms skeptically.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The mainstreaming of Lean and the inroads made by LLMs have forced mathematicians for the first time in more than a century to reckon with the fundamentals of their field.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Then Thomas Hubert of Google’s DeepMind came up with a way to improve their performance: Instead of settling for a bad “proof,” LLMs would enter their initial work product into Lean, which would provide feedback.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Mr. de Moura may have intended Lean to serve Microsoft’s bottom line, but he soon discovered that the people most interested in the program were mathematicians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
But the balance is delicate: Lean too hard on discounts and Jersey Mike’s risks following Subway’s path, eroding the premium positioning that makes its model work in the first place.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
“Here, come, Matt. Come, John. Today’s memory will be a video of the four of us. Lean in.”
From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin
It results in a leaner sound, and Mr. Ehrlich’s presentation highlights this by showcasing some of the music in duet settings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
“We are running a little leaner right now, with less oil in the tanks,” Mahil said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The move marks one of Uber's largest restructurings in years and signals a shift towards a leaner operating model.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
"A leaner organization will mean clearer ownership, faster decisions, and more time spent building rather than coordinating," the message said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
He looked the same as he had in Kansas, but Percy still couldn’t get over the differences between Bacchus and his old not-so-much-of-a-friend Mr. D. Bacchus was meaner and leaner, with less of a potbelly.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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
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
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
But he leans into the prison’s small pleasures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
The vehicle may also play an important role in Tesla’s lineup someday as its only car driven by humans, as the company leans further into autonomous driving, AI and robotics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
It’s a proven formula that leans into the ridiculousness of mundane situations but earns its audience every holiday season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Usman Muhammad pauses by the entrance to a tiny Nigerian prison cell and leans his forehead against the wall unable to speak.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
She leans in to get a better look at my eye.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Chinese businesses have leaned heavily on exports as a prolonged property slump, weak wage growth and high youth unemployment have weighed on consumer spending at home.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Stepping into the job, she leaned on Stansbury to negotiate with creditors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
“It weakens the ‘no low-band’ rebuttal management teams have leaned on,” Maral wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
I don’t know, I might’ve leaned in a couple times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Meyer leaned back and stared at the ceiling pensively.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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
Like the rest of Europe, Germany leant on the United States for its security for decades.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
The family also claims the new authorities have leant on the courts to find them guilty.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
It leant the audience a discerning sense of agency, as we could control the show but only to a point.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2025
The huge women then leant down over the counter and said, “How de do?” in voices as large as themselves, and shook hands with Jane and Michael.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
Investors are leaning hard on this country to get its spiralling public debt under control.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
USC is also leaning into artificial intelligence, with a $200-million gift from Nvidia board member Mark Stevens and his wife, Mary Stevens, meant to infuse AI across the campus and recruit AI researchers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Under the direction of new CEO Josh D’Amaro, the company is embarking on a path toward becoming a “more efficient” and “much smaller organization,” leaning on further internal consolidation and more external deals.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
“Medicare Advantage plans are leaning toward focusing on margin repair,” said Michael Ha, an analyst with Baird.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Theo is leaning against the wall, forehead pressed against the wallpaper, the muscles in his back working as he exhales all the air from his body.
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.
