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verb (used without object)
1.
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 followed 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
Verb phrase8.
the act or state of leaning; inclination: The tower has a pronounced lean.
9.
Idiomlean 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.
10.
lean over backward(s). bend1 (def. 20).
Origin:
before 900; Middle English lenen, Old English hleonian, hlinian; cognate with G. lehnen; akin to Latin clīnāre to incline, Greek klī́nein
before 900; Middle English lenen, Old English hleonian, hlinian; cognate with G. lehnen; akin to Latin clīnāre to incline, Greek klī́nein
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To leant
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
lean
"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").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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