lean

Plural: leans

Noun

• the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
• An inclination away from the vertical.
• Meat with no fat on it.
• An organism that is lean in stature.
• A recreational drug based on codeine-laced promethazine cough syrup, especially popular in the hip hop community in the southeastern United States.

Verb

Verb Forms: leaned, leant, leaning, leans

• To incline or bend from a vertical position.
• to incline or bend from a vertical position
  • "She leaned over the banister"
• cause to lean or incline
  • "He leaned his rifle against the wall"
• have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
• rely on for support
  • "We can lean on this man"
• cause to lean to the side
• To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
• To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
• To rest or rely, for support, comfort, to use as a hard surface for writing, etc.
• To hang outwards.
• To press against.
• To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.

Adjective

• Having little fat; thin.
• lacking excess flesh; ; -Shakespeare
  • "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look"
• lacking in mineral content or combustible material
  • "lean ore"
  • "lean fuel"

Adjective Satellite

• containing little excess
  • "a lean budget"
• not profitable or prosperous
  • "a lean year"

Adj

• Slim; not fleshy.
• 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 character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.
• Efficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean manufacturing".

Examples

• a lean budget
• a lean harvest
• A lean ore hardly worth mining.
• a leaning column
• Alcoa is now a lean and agile enterprise, after having split last year into two entities.
• I like to LEAN my strategy on high-value letters, even if they’re difficult to place.
• I’m leaning towards voting Conservative in the next election.
• lean copy, matter, or type
• lean management
• lean manufacturing
• lean steak cuts
• Running on too lean a fuel-air mixture will cause, among other problems, your internal combustion engine to heat up too much.
• She leaned out of the window.
• Sometimes a LEAN, short word opens up better plays than a long, clunky one.
• The Hispanic vote leans Democratic.
• The trees had various leans toward gaps in the canopy.

Synonyms

angle, be given, inclination, incline, leaning, list, run, skimpy, slant, tend, thin, tilt, tip, awanting, deficient, derich, dilute, disenrich, dismal, exiguous, gaunt, geason, gracile, inadequate, insufficient, lank, lean, leansome, lissome, lithe, lithesome, meager, measly, paltry, poor, purple drank, rangy, raunchy, scant, scantling, scanty, scarce, sizzurp, sleazy, sleek, slender, slight, slim, slinky, spare, sparse, svelte, swack, sylphlike, syrup, threadbare, unsufficient, wanting, wanty, willowy

Antonyms

fat, rich, enrich

Related Words

climate, cline, LEANLY

Anagrams of lean