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LEAN
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Irregular inflected form: leant
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
Example:
he walked with a heavy inclination to the right
Synonyms:
inclination; lean; leaning; list; tilt
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("lean" is a kind of...):
position; spatial relation (the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated)
Derivation:
lean (cause to lean or incline)
lean (to incline or bend from a vertical position)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Lacking excess flesh
Example:
Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look
Synonyms:
lean; thin
Classified under:
Similar:
wisplike; wispy (thin and weak)
sylphic; sylphlike ((of a woman or girl) slender and graceful like a sylph)
stringy; wiry (lean and sinewy)
spindle-legged; spindle-shanked (having long slender legs)
slender-waisted; slim-waisted; wasp-waisted (having a small waist)
slender; slight; slim; svelte (being of delicate or slender build)
shriveled; shrivelled; shrunken; withered; wizen; wizened (lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness)
boney; bony; scraggly; scraggy; scrawny; skinny; underweight; weedy (being very thin)
scarecrowish (resembling a scarecrow in being thin and ragged)
twiggy; twiglike (thin as a twig)
reedlike; reedy (resembling a reed in being upright and slender)
rawboned (having a lean and bony physique)
gangling; gangly; lanky (tall and thin)
deep-eyed; hollow-eyed; sunken-eyed (characteristic of the bony face of a cadaver)
cadaverous; emaciated; gaunt; haggard; pinched; skeletal; wasted (very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold)
anorectic; anorexic (suffering from anorexia nervosa; pathologically thin)
Also:
ectomorphic (having a build with little fat or muscle but with long limbs)
thin (of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section)
Attribute:
body weight (the weight of a person's body)
Derivation:
leanness (the property of having little body fat)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not profitable or prosperous
Example:
a lean year
Classified under:
Similar:
unprofitable (producing little or no profit or gain)
Derivation:
leanness (the quality of being meager)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Lacking in mineral content or combustible material
Example:
lean fuel
Classified under:
Adjectives
Antonym:
rich (high in mineral content; having a high proportion of fuel to air)
Derivation:
leanness (the quality of being meager)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Containing little excess
Example:
a skimpy allowance
Synonyms:
lean; skimpy
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
deficient; insufficient (of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement)
Derivation:
leanness (the quality of being meager)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they lean ... he / she / it leans
Past participle: leaned /leant
-ing form: leaning
Sense 1
Meaning:
Rely on for support
Example:
We can lean on this man
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
trust (have confidence or faith in)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Sense 2
Meaning:
Cause to lean or incline
Example:
He leaned his rifle against the wall
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something PP
Sentence example:
They lean their rifles on the cabinet
Derivation:
lean (the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical)
leaner ((horseshoes) the throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against (but not encircle) the stake)
Sense 3
Meaning:
To incline or bend from a vertical position
Example:
She leaned over the banister
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lean"):
incline; pitch; slope (be at an angle)
weather (cause to slope)
heel; list (tilt to one side)
lean back; recline (move the upper body backwards and down)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP
Also:
lean against; lean on (rest on for support)
Derivation:
lean (the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical)
leaner ((horseshoes) the throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against (but not encircle) the stake)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Cause to lean to the side
Example:
Erosion listed the old tree
Synonyms:
lean; list
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)
Verb group:
heel; list (tilt to one side)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
Example:
He inclined to corpulence
Synonyms:
be given; incline; lean; run; tend
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lean"):
take kindly to (be willing or inclined to accept)
suffer (be given to)
gravitate (move toward)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Context examples:
She felt that she must lean toward him, and resisted by an effort.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Somebody was leaning out of my bedroom window, refreshing his forehead against the cool stone of the parapet, and feeling the air upon his face.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The Tin Woodman gave a sigh of satisfaction and lowered his axe, which he leaned against the tree.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Hansel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Gretel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
All females in the study were adults by time of the 2009 drought, but those born in lean times fared worse in 2009 than those born in times of plenty, the researchers found.
(Born during a drought: Bad news for baboons, NSF)
Last night I found her leaning out when I woke up, and when I tried to wake her I could not; she was in a faint.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Its head is in proportion to its body, lean and unwrinkled.
(Boxer, NCI Thesaurus)
Positioned with the patient leaning backward.
(Lordotic Position, NCI Thesaurus)
The bicycle still leaned against the wall.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
On which, leaning forward, he caught his comrade a rousing smack across his rosy cheek.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
