LEAN • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Lean

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/lin/ Listen

verb

Lean v. t. (past & past part. leant or leaned; pres. part. leaning) To conceal. (Obs.)

Lean v. t. (past & past part. leant or leaned; pres. part. leaning) To cause to lean; to incline; to support or rest. "His fainting limbs against an oak he leant."

Lean v. i. (past & past part. leant or leaned; pres. part. leaning)

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."

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

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

adjective

Lean adj. (compar. leaner; superl. leanest)

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

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." "Their lean and flashy songs." "What the land is, whether it be fat or lean." "Out of my lean and low ability I'll lend you something."

(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.

noun

Lean n.

That part of flesh which consists principally of muscle without the fat. "The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy."

(Typog.) Unremunerative copy or work.

See images of 'Lean'

Etymology of 'Lean'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Lean" Quotes from Famous Books

... is to refute the objections (to the doctrine established hitherto) which might be founded on Sm/ri/ti and Reasoning, and to show that the doctrines of the pradhana, &c. have only fallacious arguments to lean upon, and that the different Vedanta-texts do not contradict one another with regard to the mode of creation and similar topics.—The first point is to refute the ...

— The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya - Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1 • George Thibaut

... cotton garment, not fastened or girdled at the waist, straw sandals, kept on by a thong passing between the great toe and the others, and if they wear any head- gear, it is only a wisp of blue cotton tied round the forehead. The one garment is only an apology for clothing, and displays lean concave chests and lean muscular limbs. The skin is very yellow, and often much tattooed with mythical beasts. The charge for sampans is fixed by tariff, so the traveller lands without having his temper ruffled by ...

— Unbeaten Tracks in Japan • Isabella L. Bird

... the junks of lean pork—which were boiled in their own bristles, and looked gaunt and grim, like pickled chins of half-famished, unwashed Cossacks—had something to do with creating the bristling bitterness at times prevailing in our mess. The men tore off the tough hide ...

— White Jacket - or, the World on a Man-of-War • Herman Melville

... camping ground on the lake; so Simmo, my Indian guide, assured me; and he knew very well. I discovered afterward that it was the only cleared bit of land for miles around; and this the rabbits knew very well. Right in the midst of their best playground I pitched my tent, while Simmo built his lean-to near by, in another little opening. We were tired that night, after a long day's paddle in the sunshine on the river. The after-supper chat before the camp fire—generally the most delightful bit of the whole day, and prolonged as far as possible—was ...

— Ways of Wood Folk • William J. Long

... gathering in apples. Still, she wished she knew why Oscar did not come to dinner, and where he was, for her heart was beginning to yearn already over the wilful, noble, undisciplined boy. It had always been her dream to have a brother—a big strong brother to lean upon, and here was one whom she would ...

— The Heiress of Wyvern Court • Emilie Searchfield

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