lean

a leaning column

She leaned out of the window.

(intransitive) To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.

I’m leaning towards voting Conservative in the next election.

The Hispanic vote leans Democratic.

But you ſay they do not accept of them, but delight rather to lean to their old Cuſtoms and Brehon Laws, though they be more unjuſt and alſo more inconvenient for the common People, as by your late Relation of them I have gathered.

a. 1600, Edmund Spenser, “A View of the State of Ireland. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Edmund Spenser, volume VI, London: Jacob Tonson […], published 1715, →OCLC, page 1518:

(copulative) To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.

He lean'd not on his fathers but himself.

1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 54:

The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 374–375:

(Followed by against, on, or upon) To rest or rely, for support, comfort, etc.

Followed by against; on; or upon; Followed by against; on; or upon

Oppreſs'd with Anguiſh, panting, and o'reſpent, / His fainting Limbs against an Oak he leant.

1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 533, lines 1187–1188:

en-verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned or (UK) leant)

leans (present singular third-person)
leaning (participle present)
leaned (participle past)
leaned (past)
leant (UK participle past)
leant (UK past)

опере́ться pf (operétʹsja) (на + accusative case)

прислони́ться pf (prislonítʹsja) (к + dative case)

From Middle English lenen (“to lean”), from Old English hleonian, hlinian (“to lean, recline, lie down, rest”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlinēn, from Proto-Germanic *hlināną (“to lean, incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-.
Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Middle Dutch leunen (“to lean”), German lehnen (“to lean”); via Proto-Indo-European with climate, cline.


lean

The trees had various leans toward gaps in the canopy.

(of an object taller than its width and depth) An inclination away from the vertical.


lean

They will now dedicate several hours at the gym every day to be leaner and stronger.

2024 May 1, ZacharyFurr, “Gym types”, in The In Constant Chronicles:

(of a person or animal) Slim; not fleshy.

lean steak cuts

The butcher and the porkman painted up only the leanest scrags of meat; the baker, the coarsest of meagre loaves.

2007, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Penguin, →ISBN, page 34:

a lean budget

a lean harvest

Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.

A lean ore hardly worth mining.

Running on too lean a fuel-air mixture will cause, among other problems, your internal combustion engine to heat up too much.

Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.

lean copy, matter, or type

(printing, archaic) Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.

lean management

lean manufacturing

Alcoa is now a lean and agile enterprise, after having split last year into two entities.

Kitting for in-plant handling is unlean. Kitting for transport, on the other hand, is lean; for example, shipping complete sets of parts to make a TV or motorcycle or motor home is lean.

2007, Richard J. Schonberger, Best Practices in Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement, page 204:

(business) Efficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean manufacturing".

en-adj

lean (comparative leaner, superlative leanest)

leaner (comparative)
leanest (superlative)

беден

having a low proportion of a desired substance

From Middle English lene (“lean”), from Old English hlǣne (“lean”), (cognate with Low German leen), perhaps from hlǣnan (“to cause to lean (due to hunger or lack of food)”), from Proto-Germanic *hlainijaną (“to cause to lean”). If so, then related to Old English hlinian, hleonian (“to lean”).


lean

Jack Sprat would eat no fat, / His wife would eat no lean.

The intermediates and leans are the predominant morphotypes found at the SE-NHR seamounts […]

1986, Southwest Fisheries Center (U.S.), Collected Reprints (issue 1)

Obese Zuckers, compared to leans, consumed more food under free-feeding conditions.

2012, Obesity: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional, page 56:

(countable, biology) An organism that is lean in stature.

en-noun

lean (countable and uncountable, plural leans)


lean

He leaned the mixture in an effort to cause a backfire through the carburetor, the generally accepted method of breaking the ice loose.

1938 July, Harold Blaine Miller, Dupont Miller, “Weather Hop”, in Boys' Life, Boy Scouts of America, →ISSN, page 25:

Even the Pilot's Operating Handbooks (POH) for our training airplanes add to our paranoia with their insistence that we not lean the mixture until we're above 5000 feet density altitude.

2002 July, Tom Benenson, “Can Your Engine Run Too Lean?”, in Flying, volume 129, number 7, →ISSN, page 73:

To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.

en-verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned)

leans (present singular third-person)
leaning (participle present)
leaned (participle past)
leaned (past)


lean

From Icelandic leyna? Akin to German leugnen (“deny”). Compare lie (“speak falsely”).


lean

Eyes real tight 'cause I'm chokin' the creep; vision messed up 'cause I'm drinkin' the lean.

2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:

"What's in the cup, let me see that / Girl, where the rest of that promethazine at?" / She said, "Cool, gotta run out to my Cadillac though / And I'll be like Fat Joe, and bring the lean back"

2020, “Those Kinda Nights”, in Music to Be Murdered By, performed by Eminem ft. Ed Sheeran:

(slang, US) A recreational drug based on codeine-laced promethazine cough syrup, especially popular in the hip hop community in the southeastern United States.

Probably from the verb to lean (see etymology 1 above), supposedly because consumption of the intoxicating beverage causes one to "lean". Alternatively, possibly short for gasoline (“an alcoholic beverage made of vodka and energy drink”).


lean

inflection of ler:
third-person plural present subjunctive

inflection of ler:
third-person plural imperative

third-person plural present indicative of lear


lean

Leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh.

head

lean (present analytic leanann, future analytic leanfaidh, verbal noun leanúint, past participle leanta)

leanann (analytic present)
leanfaidh (analytic future)
leanúint (noun-from-verb)
leanta (participle past)
leanaim (first-person indicative present singular)
leanann tú (indicative present second-person singular)
leanair (indicative present second-person singular)
leanann sé (indicative present singular third-person)
sí (indicative present singular third-person)
leanaimid (first-person indicative plural present)
leanann sibh (indicative plural present second-person)
leanann siad (indicative plural present third-person)
leanaid (indicative plural present third-person)
a leanann (indicative present relative)
a leanas (indicative present relative)
leantar (autonomous indicative present)
lean mé (first-person indicative past singular)
leanas (first-person indicative past singular)
lean tú (indicative past second-person singular)
leanais (indicative past second-person singular)
lean sé (indicative past singular third-person)
sí (indicative past singular third-person)
leanamar (first-person indicative past plural)
lean muid (first-person indicative past plural)
lean sibh (indicative past plural second-person)
leanabhair (indicative past plural second-person)
lean siad (indicative past plural third-person)
leanadar (indicative past plural third-person)
a lean (indicative past relative)
ar lean (indicative past relative)
leanadh (autonomous indicative past)
leanainn (first-person habitual indicative past singular)
leantá (habitual indicative past second-person singular)
leanadh sé (habitual indicative past singular third-person)
sí (habitual indicative past singular third-person)
leanaimis (first-person habitual indicative past plural)
leanadh muid (first-person habitual indicative past plural)
leanadh sibh (habitual indicative past plural second-person)
leanaidís (habitual indicative past plural third-person)
leanadh siad (habitual indicative past plural third-person)
a leanadh (habitual indicative past relative)
leantaí (autonomous habitual indicative past)
leanfaidh mé (first-person future singular)
leanfad (first-person future singular)
leanfaidh tú (future second-person singular)
leanfair (future second-person singular)
leanfaidh sé (future singular third-person)
sí (future singular third-person)
leanfaimid (first-person future plural)
leanfaidh muid (first-person future plural)
leanfaidh sibh (future plural second-person)
leanfaidh siad (future plural third-person)
leanfaid (future plural third-person)
a leanfaidh (future relative)
a leanfas (future relative)
leanfar (autonomous future)
leanfainn (conditional first-person singular)
leanfá (conditional second-person singular)
leanfadh sé (conditional singular third-person)
sí (conditional singular third-person)
leanfaimis (conditional first-person plural)
leanfadh muid (conditional first-person plural)
leanfadh sibh (conditional plural second-person)
leanfaidís (conditional plural third-person)
leanfadh siad (conditional plural third-person)
a leanfadh (conditional relative)
leanfaí (autonomous conditional)
go leana mé (first-person present singular subjunctive)
go leanad (first-person present singular subjunctive)
go leana tú (present second-person singular subjunctive)
go leanair (present second-person singular subjunctive)
go leana sé (present singular subjunctive third-person)
sí (present singular subjunctive third-person)
go leanaimid (first-person plural present subjunctive)
go leana muid (first-person plural present subjunctive)
go leana sibh (plural present second-person subjunctive)
go leana siad (plural present subjunctive third-person)
go leanaid (plural present subjunctive third-person)
go leantar (autonomous present subjunctive)
dá leanainn (first-person past singular subjunctive)
dá leantá (past second-person singular subjunctive)
dá leanadh sé (past singular subjunctive third-person)
sí (past singular subjunctive third-person)
dá leanaimis (first-person past plural subjunctive)
dá leanadh muid (first-person past plural subjunctive)
dá leanadh sibh (past plural second-person subjunctive)
dá leanaidís (past plural subjunctive third-person)
dá leanadh siad (past plural subjunctive third-person)
dá leantaí (autonomous past subjunctive)
leanaim (first-person imperative singular)
lean (imperative second-person singular)
leanadh sé (imperative singular third-person)
sí (imperative singular third-person)
leanaimis (first-person imperative plural)
leanaigí (imperative plural second-person)
leanaidh (imperative plural second-person)
leanaidís (imperative plural third-person)
leantar (autonomous imperative)
leanúint (noun-from-verb)
leanta (participle past)

From Old Irish lenaid (“stays, sticks (to), follows”), from Proto-Celtic *linati (“to stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”); compare Latin linō (“anoint”), līmus (“mud, slime”), Sanskrit लिनाति (lināti, “sticks, stays”).


lean

first-person singular present indicative

inflection of leat:
past indicative connegative


lean

lēan (canonical neuter)
lēan (nominative singular)
lēan (nominative plural)
lēan (accusative singular)
lēan (accusative plural)
lēanes (genitive singular)
lēana (genitive plural)
lēane (dative singular)
lēanum (dative plural)

From Proto-West Germanic *laun.
Cognates
Cognate with Old Frisian lān, Old Saxon lōn, Old High German lōn, Old Norse laun, and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌽 (laun). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek λεία (leía) (from *λαϝία), Latin lucrum, Old Church Slavonic ловъ (lovŭ) (Russian лов (lov)), Old Irish lóg, Lithuanian lãvinti.


lean

lēan (canonical)
lēan (infinitive)
lēanne (infinitive)
lēa (first-person present singular)
lōg (first-person past singular)
lōh (first-person past singular)
liehst (present second-person singular)
lōge (past second-person singular)
liehþ (present singular third-person)
lōg (past singular third-person)
lōh (past singular third-person)
lēaþ (plural present)
lōgon (past plural)
lēa (present singular)
lōge (past singular)
lēan (plural present)
lōgen (past plural)
leah (imperative past present singular)
lēaþ (imperative past plural present)
lēande (imperative present)
læġen (imperative past)
ġelæġen (imperative past)
lagen (imperative past)
ġelagen (imperative past)
leġen (imperative past)
ġeleġen (imperative past)

Middle English: *lēen (attested in past tense lough)

From Proto-West Germanic *lahan. Cognate with Old Saxon lahan, Old High German lahan, Old Norse lá, Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌰𐌽 (laian).


lean

An lean an droch aimsir?

head

lean (past lean, future leanaidh, verbal noun leantainn or leanmhainn, past participle leanta)

lean (past)
leanaidh (future)
leantainn (noun-from-verb)
leanmhainn (noun-from-verb)
leanta (participle past)

From Old Irish lenaid (“stays, sticks (to), follows”), from Proto-Celtic *linati (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”); compare Latin linō (“anoint”), Sanskrit लिनाति (lināti, “sticks, stays”).


lean

inflection of leer:
third-person plural present subjunctive

inflection of leer:
third-person plural imperative


lean

lean n (plural leanen, diminutive leantsje)

From Old Frisian lān, from Proto-West Germanic *laun. Cognate with Old English lēan.