lean

verb · adjective · noun

Simple meaning

To incline or bend from a vertical position.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

leen

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlin

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

To incline or bend from a vertical position
copulative
To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
Followed by againstonor upon
To rest or rely, for support, comfort, to use as a hard surface for writing, etc.
“We can lean on this man.”
To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.
To press against.
To hang outwards.

adjective

of meat
Having little fat.
Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.
Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.
of a person or animal
Slim; not fleshy.

noun

uncountable
Meat with no fat on it.
The property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
of an object taller than its width and depth
An inclination away from the vertical.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To incline or bend from a vertical position

Used this way, lean is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: No strong connotation
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use lean

“He leaned his rifle against the wall.”verb
“She leaned over the banister.”verb

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Incline

lean backlean forward

Other combinations

david leanlean bodylean yearslean meatlean productionlean heavily

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

leaningnounInflected form
An inclination to do something.
leanernounInflected form
The throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against (but not encircle) the stake.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

lean-to tentnounCompound term
Tent that is attached to the side of a building.
lean backverbCompound term
Move the upper body backwards and down.
lean-tonounCompound term
Rough shelter whose roof has only one slope.
lean againstverbCompound term
Rest on for support.
leaning towernounCompound term
A tall round marble campanile in Pisa that is not perpendicular.
leaning tower of pisanounCompound term
A tall round marble campanile in Pisa that is not perpendicular.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to incline or bend from a vertical position

incline

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.