Lean Meaning
/ˈliːn/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
verbTo incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
Sentence Examples
Don't lean against the wall.
John is as lean as a wolf.
He has a strong shoulder for you to lean on.
CEFR Practice Quiz
I had to ____ forward to see the stage because the person in front was tall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The athlete has a ____ and muscular build, which is a result of many years of intense and focused training.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English lenen (“to lean”), from Old English hleonian, hlinian (“to lean, recline, lie down, rest”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlinēn, from Proto-Germanic *hlināną (“to lean, incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley-. Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Middle Dutch leunen (“to lean”), German lehnen (“to lean”); via Proto-Indo-European with climate, cline.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But you ſay they do not accept of them, but delight rather to lean to their old Cuſtoms and Brehon Laws, though they be more unjuſt and alſo more inconvenient for the common People, as by your late Relation of them I have gathered."
— a. 1600, Edmund Spenser, “A View of the State of Ireland. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Edmund Spenser, volume VI, London: Jacob Tonson […], published 1715, →OCLC, page 1518:
"He lean'd not on his fathers but himself."
— 1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 54:
"The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 374–375:
"Oppreſs'd with Anguiſh, panting, and o'reſpent, / His fainting Limbs against an Oak he leant."
— 1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 533, lines 1187–1188:
"They will now dedicate several hours at the gym every day to be leaner and stronger."
— 2024 May 1, ZacharyFurr, “Gym types”, in The In Constant Chronicles:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
I had to ____ forward to see the stage because the person in front was tall.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The athlete has a ____ and muscular build, which is a result of many years of intense and focused training.