- lean
- [[t]li͟ːn[/t]]
♦♦♦(American English uses the form leaned as the past tense and past participle. British English uses either leaned or leant.)1) VERB When you lean in a particular direction, you bend your body in that direction.
[V adv/prep] Eileen leaned across and opened the passenger door...
[V adv/prep] He leaned forward to give her a kiss...
[V adv/prep] They stopped to lean over a gate.
2) VERB If you lean on or against someone or something, you rest against them so that they partly support your weight. If you lean an object on or against something, you place the object so that it is partly supported by that thing.[V adv] She was feeling tired and was glad to lean against him...
[V n adv/prep] Lean the plants against a wall and cover the roots with peat...
[V n adv/prep] The table lurched as a young man leant his weight on it.
3) ADJ-GRADED (approval) If you describe someone as lean, you mean that they are thin but look strong and healthy.Like most athletes, she was lean and muscular...
She watched the tall, lean figure step into the car.
Ant:4) ADJ-GRADED If meat is lean, it does not have very much fat.It is a beautiful meat, very lean and tender.
...the leanest ground beef you can get.
Ant:5) ADJ-GRADED If you describe an organization as lean, you mean that it has become more efficient and less wasteful by getting rid of staff, or by dropping projects which were unprofitable.The value of the pound will force British companies to be leaner and fitter.
...cutting corporate flab and building leaner companies.
6) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n If you describe periods of time as lean, you mean that people have less of something such as money or are less successful than they used to be....the lean years of the 1930s...
With fewer tourists in town, the taxi trade is going through its leanest patch for 30 years.
Phrasal Verbs:- lean on
English dictionary. 2008.
