Antonyms for lean


Grammar : Adj, verb
Spell : leen
Phonetic Transcription : lin


Definition of lean

Origin :
  • c.1200, from Old English hleonian "to bend, recline, lie down, rest," from Proto-Germanic *khlinen (cf. Old Saxon hlinon, Old Frisian lena, Middle Dutch lenen, Dutch leunen, Old High German hlinen, German lehnen "to lean"), from PIE root *klei- "to lean, to incline" (cf. Sanskrit srayati "leans," sritah "leaning;" Old Persian cay "to lean;" Lithuanian slyti "to slope," slieti "to lean;" Latin clinare "to lean, bend," clivus "declivity," inclinare "cause to bend," declinare "bend down, turn aside;" Greek klinein "to cause to slope, slant, incline;" Old Irish cloin "crooked, wrong;" Middle Irish cle, Welsh cledd "left," literally "slanting;" Welsh go-gledd "north," literally "left" -- for similar sense evolution, see Yemen, Benjamin, southpaw).
  • Meaning "to incline the body against something for support" is mid-13c. Figurative sense of "to trust for support" is from early 13c. Sense of "to lean toward mentally, to favor" is from late 14c. Related: Leaned; leaning. Colloquial lean on "put pressure on" (someone) is first recorded 1960.
  • adj bare, thin
  • verb bend, angle toward
  • verb be disposed
  • verb count, depend on
Example sentences :
  • He thought, too, of the lean face and the peculiar, set eye of Dozier.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • And now it comes back to me about the other one, the lean Andrew, his brother.
  • Extract from : « Rico and Wiseli » by Johanna Spyri
  • And he chuckled and rubbed his lean hands together as I had so often seen him do.
  • Extract from : « The Bacillus of Beauty » by Harriet Stark
  • The tall son of Hanover was lean of flesh, but gross in muscle.
  • Extract from : « Thoroughbreds » by W. A. Fraser
  • I am lean and bony and I've got a beak where I should have a nose.
  • Extract from : « Her Father's Daughter » by Gene Stratton-Porter
  • And now they're trying to lean it up a—there's some more puffs of smoke—it's guns!
  • Extract from : « Tom Sawyer Abroad » by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  • He knew the power in her lean, muscular arms, the strength in her narrow shoulders.
  • Extract from : « Dust » by Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
  • He looked at them critically and replied: "Certainly they are lean."
  • Extract from : « Green Mansions » by W. H. Hudson
  • His mental perturbation was due to the lean look of his bank balance.
  • Extract from : « The Foolish Lovers » by St. John G. Ervine
  • Take six pounds of the lean of fresh beef, cut from the bone.
  • Extract from : « Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches » by Eliza Leslie

Synonyms for lean

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019