Dictionary entry details
• LEAN (noun)
Meaning:
The property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
lean; list; leaning; tilt; inclination
Context examples:
the tower had a pronounced tilt / the ship developed a list to starboard / he walked with a heavy inclination to the right
Hypernyms ("lean" is a kind of...):
position; spatial relation (the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated)
• LEAN (adjective)
Meaning:
Lacking excess flesh
Synonyms:
lean; thin
Context examples:
you can't be too rich or too thin / Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look
Similar:
boney; scraggy; scrawny; skinny; underweight; weedy (being very thin)
shriveled; shrivelled; shrunken; withered; wizen; wizened (lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness)
slender; slight; slim; svelte (being of delicate or slender build)
slender-waisted; slim-waisted; wasp-waisted (having a small waist)
spare; trim (thin and fit)
spindle-legged; spindle-shanked (having long slender legs)
stringy; wiry (lean and sinewy)
wisplike; wispy (thin and weak)
scarecrowish (resembling a scarecrow in being thin and ragged)
twiggy; twiglike (resembling a twig)
reedlike; reedy (resembling a reed in being upright and slender)
anorectic; anorexic (suffering from anorexia nervosa; pathologically thin)
bony; cadaverous; emaciated; gaunt; haggard; pinched; skeletal; wasted (very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold)
deep-eyed; hollow-eyed; sunken-eyed (characteristic of the bony face of a cadaver)
gangling; gangly; lanky (tall and thin)
lank; spindly (long and lean)
rawboned (having a lean and bony physique)
Also:
ectomorphic (having a build with little fat or muscle but with long limbs)
thin (of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section)
Attribute:
body weight (the weight of a person's body)
Meaning:
Lacking in mineral content or combustible material
Context examples:
lean ore / lean fuel
Antonym:
rich (high in mineral content; having a high proportion of fuel to air)
Meaning:
Containing little excess
Synonyms:
skimpy; lean
Context examples:
a lean budget / a skimpy allowance
Similar:
deficient; insufficient (of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement)
Meaning:
Not profitable or prosperous
Context example:
a lean year
Similar:
unprofitable (producing little or no profit or gain)
• LEAN (verb)
Meaning:
To incline or bend from a vertical position
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
lean; tilt; angle; slant; tip
Context example:
She leaned over the banister
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
bend; flex (form a curve)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lean"):
incline; pitch; slope (be at an angle)
weather (cause to slope)
heel; list (tilt to one side)
lean back; recline (move the upper body backwards and down)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP
Also:
lean against; lean on (rest on for support)
Meaning:
Cause to lean or incline
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
He leaned his rifle against the wall
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something PP
Sentence example:
They lean their rifles on the cabinet
Meaning:
Have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Synonyms:
be given; incline; tend; lean; run
Context examples:
She tends to be nervous before her lectures / These dresses run small / He inclined to corpulence
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lean"):
take kindly to (be willing or inclined to accept)
suffer (be given to)
gravitate (move toward)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Meaning:
Rely on for support
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Context example:
We can lean on this man
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
bank; rely; swear; trust (have confidence or faith in)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Meaning:
Cause to lean to the side
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
list; lean
Context example:
Erosion listed the old tree
Hypernyms (to "lean" is one way to...):
move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
