glean

American  

[gleen] / glin /

verb (used with object)

1. to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.

2. to gather small amounts of (grain or the like) left behind after a harvest, nowadays often for charitable use.

3. to clear (a field, orchard, etc.) of leftover produce in this way.

   Millet’s painting The Gleaners depicts three peasant women stooping low as they glean a field of wheat.

4. to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.

   Synonyms:

   infer, extract, derive, deduce, reap, gather

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verb (used without object)

1. to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.

2. to gather what is left by reapers.

glean British  

/ ɡliːn /

verb

1. to gather (something) slowly and carefully in small pieces

   to glean information from the newspapers

2. to gather (the useful remnants of a crop) from the field after harvesting

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Other Word Forms

• gleanable adjective
• gleaner noun

Etymology

Origin of glean

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English glenen, from Old French glener, from Late Latin glennāre, ultimately from Celtic

Example Sentences

“I am an Usher of wandering souls,” he said, trying to glean some dignity from the words.

From Literature

Lichtenberg rewrote the top of the story using information he gleaned from an earlier phone conversation with a Wall Street executive.

From The Wall Street Journal

Carol’s tender response to the question transmits knowledge never to be gleaned firsthand.

From The Wall Street Journal

I’d gleaned that Ma had been born in China and had been sold as a child to work as a servant to a wealthy Chinese family.

From Literature

Simile uses data gleaned from chats with human beings to train AI agents, who then become the digital twins of those people, said Joon Park, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup’s co-founder and chief executive.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cull
• deduce
• extract
• garner
• gather
• learn
• reap
• sift