lean
Noun · Verb · AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Verb (5)leant, leans, leaned, leaning
- to incline or bend from a vertical position“She leaned over the banister”Synonyms: tilttipslantangleMore general bend, flexMore specific lean back, slope, list, weather
- cause to lean or incline“He leaned his rifle against the wall”More general put, set
- 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”Synonyms: tendbe giveninclinerunMore general beMore specific take kindly to, suffer, gravitate
- rely on for support“We can lean on this man”More general trust
- cause to lean to the side“Erosion listed the old tree”Synonyms: listMore general moveSimilar list, heel
Adjective (4)leaner, leanest
- lacking excess flesh“you can't be too rich or too thin”“Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look — Shakespeare”Synonyms: thinOpposite fatSimilar cadaverous, slender, scraggy, stringy, spare, slender-waisted, gangling, shriveled +11 moreRelates to body weightSee also ectomorphic, thin
- lacking in mineral content or combustible material“lean ore”“lean fuel”Opposite rich
- containing little excess“a lean budget”“a skimpy allowance”Synonyms: skimpyOpposite sufficientSimilar insufficient, deficient
- not profitable or prosperous“a lean year”Opposite profitableSimilar unprofitable
Noun (1)leans
- 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”Synonyms: tiltlistinclinationleaningType of position, spatial relation
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Verb to press against
- German
- lehnen
- Italian
- appoggiare
- Russian
- опира́ться opirátʹsja
- Chinese
- 倚 yǐ
- Japanese
- もたれる motareru
- Dutch
- leunen
- Swedish
- luta
- Korean
- 기대다 gidaeda
- Hungarian
- támaszkodik
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 倚 yǐ
Verb to incline
- French
- pencher
- Italian
- pendere
- Portuguese
- inclinar
- Swedish
- luta
- Greek
- γέρνω gérno
- Korean
- 기울다 giulda
- Vietnamese
- ngả
- Hungarian
- dől
- Portuguese (PT)
- inclinar
- Catalan
- inclinar
1 more language
- Esperanto
- alkliniĝi
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: Icel. leyna; akin to G. läugnen to deny, AS. lȳgnian, also E. lie to speak falsely.
To conceal. obsolete John Ray
Origin: OE. lenen, AS. hlinian, hleonian, intransitive verb; akin to OS. hlinōn, D. leunen, OHG. hlinēn, linēn, G. lehnen, L. inclinare, Gr. κλίνειν, L. clivus hill, slope. √40. 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.” Charles 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.— Edmund 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.— Alfred Tennyson
Origin: From Lean, intransitive verb; AS. hlǣnan, v. t., fr. hleonian, hlinian, intransitive verb
To cause to lean; to incline; to support or rest. Eliz. Barrett Browning
His fainting limbs against an oak he leant.— John Dryden
Origin: OE. lene, AS. hlǣne; prob. akin to E. lean to incline. See Lean, intransitive verb
1. Wanting flesh; destitute of or deficient in fat; slim; not plump; slender; 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.” William Shakespeare
Their lean and flashy songs.— John 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.— William Shakespeare
3. Typog. Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; — opposed to fat; as, lean copy, matter, or type.
Synonyms: slender; spare; thin; meager; lank; skinny; gaunt.
1. That part of flesh which consists principally of muscle without the fat.
The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy.— Oliver Goldsmith
2. Typog. Unremunerative copy or work.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
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)