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glean

 - 4 dictionary results

glean

  [gleen]
Use glean in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
2. to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers.
3. to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.
–verb (used without object)
4. to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.
5. to gather what is left by reapers.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME glenen < OF glener < LL glennāre ≪ Celtic

Related forms:
glean⋅a⋅ble, adjective
gleaner, noun

Synonyms:
3. garner, deduce, infer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To glean
glean   (glēn)   
v.   gleaned, glean·ing, gleans

v.   intr.
To gather grain left behind by reapers.
v.   tr.

  1. To gather (grain) left behind by reapers.

  2. To collect bit by bit: "records from which historians glean their knowledge" (Kemp Malone). See Synonyms at reap.


[Middle English glenen, from Old French glener, from Late Latin glennāre, probably of Celtic origin.]
glean'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

glean 
c.1330, from O.Fr. glener, from L.L. glennare "make a collection," from Gaulish (cf. O.Ir. do-glinn "he collects, gathers," Celt. glan "clean, pure"). Figurative sense was earlier in Eng. than the literal one of "gather grain left by the reapers" (c.1385).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Glean

The corners of fields were not to be reaped, and the sheaf accidentally left behind was not to be fetched away, according to the law of Moses (Lev. 19:9; 23:22; Deut. 24:21). They were to be left for the poor to glean. Similar laws were given regarding vineyards and oliveyards. (Comp. Ruth 2:2.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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