# lean

Pronunciation: say "LEEN" /liːn/

## Verb

1. To slope, tilt, or bend away from an upright position, or to stand or project at an angle.
   - Simple: To bend or slope to one side instead of standing straight up.
   - _The old fence posts lean toward the road after years of wind._
   - _Pisa's famous tower leans noticeably to one side._
2. To rest against or on something for support or comfort, or to rely on a person or thing.
   - Simple: To rest your weight on something for support, or to depend on someone for help.
   - _Tired hikers lean against the trees to catch their breath._
   - _When things get hard, she leans on her closest friends for support._
3. To tend toward a particular opinion, preference, or way of acting, often expressed with to or toward.
   - Simple: To favor one side, idea, or choice more than another.
   - _Younger employees tend to lean toward flexible work arrangements._
   - _The committee leaned conservative in its final recommendations._
8. To press or push against something with one's weight.
   - Simple: To push your body or weight against something.
   - _The wrestlers lean into each other, testing their strength._
   - _She leaned her shoulder against the stuck gate._

## Adjective

4. Containing little fat; having only a small proportion of fatty tissue.
   - Simple: Having only a small amount of fat.
   - _Nutritionists often recommend lean cuts of beef._
   - _The diet focuses on lean proteins and fresh vegetables._
5. Slim and without much flesh; having a thin, spare build.
   - Simple: Thin and not having much fat on the body.
   - _Her lean frame made her look taller than she was._
   - _The dancers were all remarkably lean and supple._
6. Efficient and frugal, with little waste; relating to the streamlined methods of lean manufacturing.
   - Simple: Run in a simple, careful way that avoids waste.
   - _The startup stayed lean, avoiding unnecessary hires._
   - _Managers adopted lean practices to cut waste on the factory floor._
7. Scanty and meager, offering little extra or little to spare.
   - Simple: Being only just enough, with little or nothing extra.
   - _Sales were lean during the long winter season._
   - _After the layoffs, the company faced a lean budget._
12. Containing only a small share or weak concentration of some wanted substance or ingredient.
   - Simple: Having only a little of some wanted material in it.
   - _The deposit was too lean to mine profitably._
   - _Engineers burned a lean mixture to save fuel._

## Noun

9. A slope or angle away from an upright position.
   - Simple: A tilt or slope away from standing straight up.
   - _Engineers measured the lean of the ancient tower._
   - _A noticeable lean had developed in the chimney over the decades._
10. A recreational drug made from codeine-laced promethazine cough syrup, often mixed with soda. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A drug made by mixing cough syrup that contains codeine with soda.
   - _Several rappers have spoken openly about their struggles with lean._
   - _The purple color of lean comes from the cough syrup base._
11. The portion of meat that contains no fat.
   - Simple: The part of meat that has no fat on it.
   - _The butcher separated the lean from the fat before grinding._
   - _Good sausage needs a careful balance of lean and fat._

## Adjective

13. In old hand typesetting, describing work or type that earns the compositor less than the usual wage; the opposite of fat. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Describing printing work that pays the typesetter very little.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To reduce the fuel flow in a fuel-air mixture so that it contains proportionally more air or oxygen.
- (noun) An organism with a thin, slender physical build.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 8–9** — From Middle English lenen, from Old English hleonian/hlinian ("to lean, recline, rest"), from Proto-Germanic *hlināną and ultimately the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱley-. It is related to German lehnen ("to lean") and, through the Indo-European root, to words like climate and cline.
**Meanings 4–7, 11–13** — Old English hlǣne ("lean") became Middle English lene. It may come from hlǣnan, "to cause to lean" (as from hunger or lack of food), a verb from Proto-Germanic *hlainijaną, and in that case Old English hlinian, hleonian ("to lean") would be a relative.
**Meaning 10** — The likeliest source is the verb to lean, supposedly because the intoxicating drink makes the user "lean." Another possibility is that it is short for gasoline, an alcoholic drink of vodka and energy drink.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lean (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).