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 fol. by on or upon): someone he could lean on in an emergency.
–verb (used with object)
6.
to incline or bend: He leaned his head forward.
7.
to cause to lean or rest; prop: to lean a chair against the railing.
–noun
8.
the act or state of leaning; inclination: The tower has a pronounced lean.
—Verb phrase
9.
lean on, Informal.
a.
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.
b.
to criticize, reprimand, or punish: I would have enjoyed school more if the teachers hadn't leaned on me so much.
Containing little excess or waste; spare: a lean budget.
Thrifty in management; economical: "Company leaders know their industries must be lean to survive"(Christian Science Monitor).
Metallurgy Low in mineral contents: lean ore.
Chemistry Lacking in combustible material: lean fuel.
n.
Meat with little or no fat.
[Middle English lene, from Old English hlǣne.]
lean'ly adv., lean'ness n.
Synonyms: These adjectives mean lacking excess flesh. Lean emphasizes absence of fat: fattened the lean cattle for market. Spare sometimes suggests trimness and good muscle tone: "an old man, very tall and spare, with an ascetic aspect" (William H. Mallock).
Skinny and scrawny imply unattractive thinness, as with undernourishment: The child has skinny legs with prominent knees."He [had] a long, scrawny neck that rose out of a very low collar" (Winston Churchill).
Lank describes one who is thin and tall, and lanky one who is thin, tall, and ungraceful: "He was . . . exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders" (Washington Irving). The boy had developed into a lanky adolescent. Rawboned suggests a thin, bony, gangling build: a rawboned cowhand. Gaunt implies boniness and a haggard appearance; it may suggest illness or hardship: a white-haired pioneer, her face gaunt from overwork.
LeanAudio Help (lēn) Pronunciation Key
British filmmaker. His works include The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), both of which won Academy Awards.
O.E. hleonian "to bend, recline, lie down, rest," from P.Gmc. *khlinen (cf. O.S. hlinon, O.Fris. lena, M.Du. lenen, Ger. lehnen "to lean"), from PIE base *kli- "to lean, to incline" (cf. Skt. cri- "to lean;" O.Pers. cay "to lean;" L. clivus "declivity," inclinare "cause to bend," declinare "bend down, turn aside;" Gk. klinein "to cause to slope, slant, incline"). Meaning "to incline the body against something for support" is c.1250. Fig. sense of "to trust for support" is from 1225. Sense of "to lean toward mentally, to favor" is from 1398. Colloquial to lean on "put pressure on" (someone) is first recorded 1960. Lean-to "a building whose rafters pitch against another building or wall" is from 1461.
"thin, spare, with little flesh or fat," O.E. hlæne, possibly from hlænan "cause to lean or bend," from P.Gmc. *khlainijan, which would make it related to O.E. hleonian (see lean (v.)). But perhaps rather from a PIE *qloinio- (cf. Lith. klynas "scrap, fragment," Lettish kleins "feeble").
lacking excess flesh; "you can't be too rich or too thin"; "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look"-Shakespeare [syn: thin] [ant: fat]
2.
lacking in mineral content or combustible material; "lean ore"; "lean fuel" [ant: rich]
3.
containing little excess; "a lean budget"; "a skimpy allowance"
4.
not profitable or prosperous; "a lean year"
noun
1.
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" [syn: tilt]
verb
1.
to incline or bend from a vertical position; "She leaned over the banister"
2.
cause to lean or incline; "He leaned his rifle against the wall"
3.
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" [syn: tend]
4.
rely on for support; "We can lean on this man"
5.
cause to lean to the side; "Erosion listed the old tree" [syn: list]
Lean An experimental language from the University of Nijmegen and University of East Anglia, based on graph rewriting and useful as an intermediate language. Lean is descended from Dactl0. Clean is a subset of Lean. ["Towards an Intermediate Language Based on Graph Rewriting", H.P. Barendregt et al in PARLE: Parallel Architectures and Languages Europe, G. Goos ed, LNCS 259, Springer 1987, pp.159-175]. (1995-01-25)
Ac*cliv"i*ty\, n.; pl. Acclivities. [L. acclivitas, fr. acclivis, acclivus, ascending; ad + clivus a hill, slope, fr. root kli to lean. See Lean.] A slope or inclination of the earth, as the side of a hill, considered as ascending, in opposition to declivity, or descending; an upward slope; ascent.
Cli"mate\, n. [F. climat, L. clima, -atis, fr. Gr. ?, ?, slope, the supposed slope of the earth (from the equator toward the pole), hence a region or zone of the earth, fr. ? to slope, incline, akin to E. lean, v. i. See Lean, v. i., and cf. Clime.]1. (Anc. Geog.) One of thirty regions or zones, parallel to the equator, into which the surface of the earth from the equator to the pole was divided, according to the successive increase of the length of the midsummer day. 2. The condition of a place in relation to various phenomena of the atmosphere, as temperature, moisture, etc., especially as they affect animal or vegetable life.
Cli"max\, n. [L., from Gr. ? ladder, staircase, fr. ? to make to bend, to lean. See Ladder, Lean, v. i.]1. Upward movement; steady increase; gradation; ascent. --Glanvill. 2. (Rhet.) A figure in which the parts of a sentence or paragraph are so arranged that each succeeding one rises above its predecessor in impressiveness. "Tribulation worketh patience, patience experience, and experience hope" -- a happy climax. --J. D. Forbes. 3. The highest point; the greatest degree. We must look higher for the climax of earthly good. --I. Taylor. To cap the climax, to surpass everything, as in excellence or in absurdity. [Colloq.]
Clin"ic*al\, Clinic \Clin"ic\, a. [Gr. ?, fr. ? bed, fr. ? to lean, recline: cf. F. clinique. See Lean, v. i.]1. Of or pertaining to a bed, especially, a sick bed. 2. Of or pertaining to a clinic, or to the study of disease in the living subject. Clinical baptism, baptism administered to a person on a sick bed. Clinical instruction, instruction by means of clinics. Clinical lecture (Med.), a discourse upon medical topics illustrated by the exhibition and examination of living patients. Clinical medicine, Clinical surgery, that part of medicine or surgery which is occupied with the investigation of disease in the living subject.
De*cline"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Declined; p. pr. & vb. n. Declining.] [OE. declinen to bend down, lower, sink, decline (a noun), F. d['e]cliner to decline, refuse, fr. L. declinare to turn aside, inflect (a part of speech), avoid; de- + clinare to incline; akin to E. lean. See Lean, v. i.]1. To bend, or lean downward; to take a downward direction; to bend over or hang down, as from weakness, weariness, despondency, etc.; to condescend. "With declining head." --Shak. He . . . would decline even to the lowest of his family. --Lady Hutchinson. Disdaining to decline, Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries. --Byron. The ground at length became broken and declined rapidly. --Sir W. Scott. 2. To tend or draw towards a close, decay, or extinction; to tend to a less perfect state; to become diminished or impaired; to fail; to sink; to diminish; to lessen; as, the day declines; virtue declines; religion declines; business declines. That empire must decline Whose chief support and sinews are of coin. --Waller. And presume to know . . . Who thrives, and who declines. --Shak. 3. To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw; as, a line that declines from straightness; conduct that declines from sound morals. Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. --Ps. cxix. 157. 4. To turn away; to shun; to refuse; -- the opposite of accept or consent; as, he declined, upon principle.
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Audio Help [leen] Pronunciation Key verb, leaned or (especially British
nein
