lean
To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
Verb 4 meanings
To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
“a leaning column”
To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
“I’m leaning towards voting Conservative in the next election.”
To rest or rely, for support, comfort, to use as a hard surface for writing, etc.
To hang outwards.
Noun 3 meanings
An inclination away from the vertical.
“The trees had various leans toward gaps in the canopy.”
Meat with no fat on it.
An organism that is lean in stature.
Adjective 4 meanings
Slim; not fleshy.
Having little fat.
“lean steak cuts”
Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.
“a lean budget”
Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.
“A lean ore hardly worth mining.”
Etymology
From Middle English lenen (“to lean”), from Old English hleonian, hlinian (“to lean, recline, lie down, rest”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlinēn, from Proto-Germanic *hlināną (“to lean, incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-.
Similar and opposite words
LEAN at a glance
LEAN has 4 letters and scores 4 points in Scrabble (L 1 + E 1 + A 1 + N 1) and 6 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #5,608 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with lean
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