lean

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To bend or move your body into a sloping position.

   The child leaned over the railing to wave below.

2. 2
   verb

   To rest against something for support.

   She leaned the ladder against the wall.

3. 3
   verb

   To rely on someone or something for support or help.

   You can always lean on your friends in hard times.

4. 4
   adj

   Thin and fit, with little fat.

   He stayed lean by running every morning.

5. 5
   adj

   Having little of something; not productive or plentiful.

   The business went through a lean year.

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.

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