lean
Adjective:
- Lacking excess flesh; thin: Describing a person or animal that has little body fat.
- Containing little fat: Describing meat that has little fat.
- Lacking richness, abundance, or excess: Describing something that is sparse, meager, or not profitable.
- Lacking in mineral or combustible content: Describing materials like ore or fuel that are poor in quality.
Verb:
- To incline or bend from a vertical position: To move your body or an object so that it is not straight up and down.
- To rest against something for support: To place something or oneself in a sloping position against a surface.
- To rely on or be dependent on: To depend on someone or something for support, either physically or metaphorically.
- To show a tendency or preference: To be inclined toward a particular opinion, action, or condition.
Noun:
- A deviation from the vertical; a tilt: The angle at which something leans.
Adjective:
- After his illness, he looked very lean. (Describing a thin person)
- I prefer to buy lean ground beef for cooking. (Describing meat with little fat)
- The company survived several lean years during the recession. (Describing unprofitable times)
Verb:
- The old tree leans dangerously over the road. (To incline from vertical)
- She leaned her bicycle against the fence. (To rest against for support)
- You can always lean on me if you need help. (To rely on for support)
- His political views lean toward the conservative side. (To show a tendency)
Noun:
- The Leaning Tower of Pisa has a famous lean. (A tilt)
"Lean in": To move your body closer to something to hear or see better, or to become more involved in an activity.
- She leaned in to hear the secret.
"Lean on" (figurative): To put pressure on someone to act in a certain way.
- The manager leaned on the team to finish the project faster.
"Lean and mean": Describing an organization or person that is efficient, competitive, and has no unnecessary parts.
- After the restructuring, the company became a lean and mean operation.
Leaning (noun): A tendency or preference.
- He has a strong leaning toward artistic pursuits.
Leanness (noun): The state of being lean.
- The leanness of the meat makes it a healthier choice.
- Adjective: Thin, skinny, slender, sparse, meager, unprofitable.
- Verb: Tilt, slant, incline, rely, depend, tend.
Lean back: To move your upper body backwards into a more relaxed position.
- He leaned back in his chair and sighed.
Lean over: To bend forward or sideways.
- She leaned over the balcony to get a better view.
Lean towards: To show a slight preference for one thing over another.
- I'm leaning towards accepting the job offer.
Lean times: A period of scarcity or little money.
- Many families struggled during the lean times of the economic crisis.
A lean, mean fighting machine: A phrase (often humorous) describing someone in excellent physical condition, ready for action.
- After six months of training, he was a lean, mean fighting machine.
- not profitable or prosperous
- a lean year
- containing little excess
- a lean budget
- a skimpy allowance
- lacking in mineral content or combustible material
- lean ore
- lean fuel
- lacking excess flesh
- you can't be too rich or too thin
- Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look-Shakespeare
- the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
- the tower had a pronounced tilt
- the ship developed a list to starboard
- he walked with a heavy inclination to the right
- cause to lean to the side
- Erosion listed the old tree
- rely on for support
- We can lean on this man
- have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
- She tends to be nervous before her lectures
- These dresses run small
- He inclined to corpulence
- cause to lean or incline
- He leaned his rifle against the wall
- to incline or bend from a vertical position
- She leaned over the banister