LEAN

thin, lean

(adjective) lacking excess flesh; “you can’t be too rich or too thin”; “Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look”-Shakespeare

lean

(adjective) not profitable or prosperous; “a lean year”

lean

(adjective) lacking in mineral content or combustible material; “lean ore”; “lean fuel”

lean, skimpy

(adjective) containing little excess; “a lean budget”; “a skimpy allowance”

tilt, list, inclination, lean, leaning

(noun) the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical; “the tower had a pronounced tilt”; “the ship developed a list to starboard”; “he walked with a heavy inclination to the right”

lean

(verb) cause to lean or incline; “He leaned his rifle against the wall”

lean, tilt, tip, slant, angle

(verb) to incline or bend from a vertical position; “She leaned over the banister”

list, lean

(verb) cause to lean to the side; “Erosion listed the old tree”

tend, be given, lean, incline, run

(verb) have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined; “She tends to be nervous before her lectures”; “These dresses run small”; “He inclined to corpulence”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle (UK) leant or leaned)

To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.

To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; with to, toward, etc.

Followed by against, on, or upon: to rest or rely, for support, comfort, etc.

To hang outwards.

To press against.

Noun

lean (plural leans)

(of an object taller than its width and depth) An inclination away from the vertical.

Synonyms

• (inclination away from vertical): tilt

Etymology 2

Adjective

lean (comparative leaner, superlative leanest)

(of a person or animal) Slim; not fleshy.

Synonyms: lithe, svelte, willowy, Thesaurus:slender

(of meat) Having little fat.

Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.

Synonyms: insufficient, scarce, sparse, Thesaurus:inadequate

Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.

Synonyms: deficient, dilute, poor

Antonym: rich

(printing, archaic) Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.

(business) Efficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean manufacturing"

Noun

lean (countable and uncountable, plural leans)

(uncountable) Meat with no fat on it.

(countable, biology) An organism that is lean in stature.

Verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned)

To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.

Etymology 3

Verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned)

To conceal.

Etymology 4

Probably from the verb to lean (see etymology 1 above), supposedly because consumption of the intoxicating beverage causes one to "lean".

Noun

lean (uncountable)

(slang, US) A recreational drug based on codeine-laced promethazine cough syrup, popular in the hip hop community in the southeastern United States.

Synonyms: sizzurp, syrup, purple drank

Anagrams

• Alne, ELAN, Lane, Lena, Nale, Neal, elan, enal, lane, nale, neal, Ă©lan

Proper noun

Lean

A surname.

Anagrams

• Alne, ELAN, Lane, Lena, Nale, Neal, elan, enal, lane, nale, neal, Ă©lan

Source: Wiktionary


Lean, v. t. Etym: [Icel. leyna; akin to G. läugnen to deny, AS. l, also E. lie to speak falsely.]

Definition: To conceal. [Obs.] Ray.

Lean, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Leaned, sometimes Leant (p. pr. & vb. n. Leaning.] Etym: [OE. lenen, AS. hlinian, hleonian, v. i.; akin to OS. hlinon, D. leunen, OHG. hlinen, linen, G. lehnen, L. inclinare, Gr. clivus hill, slope. sq. root40. Cf. Declivity, Climax, Incline, Ladder.]

1. To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating; as, she leaned out at the window; a leaning column. "He leant forward." Dickens.

2. To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; -- with to, toward, etc. They delight rather to lean to their old customs. Spenser.

3. To rest or rely, for support, comfort, and the like; -- with on, upon, or against. He leaned not on his fathers but himself. Tennyson.

Lean, v. t. Etym: [From Lean, v. i. ; AS. hl, v. t., fr. hleonian, hlinian, v. i.]

Definition: To cause to lean; to incline; to support or rest. Mrs. Browning. His fainting limbs against an oak he leant. Dryden.

Lean, a. [Compar. Leaner; superl. Leanest.] Etym: [OE. lene, AS. hl; prob. akin to E. lean to incline. See Lean, v. i. ]

1. Wanting flesh; destitute of or deficient in fat; not plump; meager; thin; lank; as, a lean body; a lean cattle.

2. Wanting fullness, richness, sufficiency, or productiveness; deficient in quality or contents; slender; scant; barren; bare; mean;

– used literally and figuratively; as, the lean harvest; a lean purse; a lean discourse; lean wages. "No lean wardrobe." Shak. Their lean and fiashy songs. Milton. What the land is, whether it be fat or lean. Num. xiii. 20. Out of my lean and low ability I'll lend you something. Shak.

3. (Typog.)

Definition: Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; -- opposed to fat; as lean copy, matter, or type.

Syn.

– slender; spare; thin; meager; lank; skinny; gaunt.

Lean, n.

1. That part of flesh which consist principally of muscle without the fat. The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy. Goldsmith.

2. (Typog.)

Definition: Unremunerative copy or work.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

24 December 2024

INTUITIVELY

(adverb) in an intuitive manner; “inventors seem to have chosen intuitively a combination of explosive and aggressive sounds as warning signals to be used on automobiles”


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Coffee Trivia

The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.

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