lean

¹

[ leen ]

verb (used without object)

, leaned or (especially British) leant; lean·ing.

1. to incline or bend from a vertical position:

   She leaned out the window.

2. to incline, as in a particular direction; slant:

   The post leans to the left.

   The building leaned sharply before renovation.

3. to incline in feeling, opinion, action, etc.:

   to lean toward socialism.

4. to rest against or on something for support:

   to lean against a wall.

5. to depend or rely (usually followed by on or upon ):

   someone he could lean on in an emergency.

verb (used with object)

, leaned or (especially British) leant; lean·ing.

1. to incline or bend:

   He leaned his head forward.

2. to cause to lean or rest; prop:

   to lean a chair against the railing.

noun

1. the act or state of leaning; inclination:

   The tower has a pronounced lean.

verb phrase

1. Informal.
   1. to exert influence or pressure on in order to gain cooperation, maintain discipline, or the like:

      The state is leaning on the company to clean up its industrial wastes.

   2. to criticize, reprimand, or punish:

      I would have enjoyed school more if the teachers hadn't leaned on me so much.

2. 1. to shift one's body weight forward or toward someone or something:

      Because Don was whispering, I had to lean in so I could hear him.

      He stood near home plate and leaned in for the pitch.

   2. to embrace risk, be assertive, etc., as to achieve the greatest level of success in the workplace:

      She really knows how to lean in—she'll have a corner office before long.

lean

²

[ leen ]

adjective

, lean·er, lean·est.

1. (of persons or animals) without much flesh or fat; not plump or fat; thin:

   lean cattle.

   Synonyms: lanky, lank, skinny

   Antonyms: fat

2. (of edible meat) containing little or no fat.

   Antonyms: fat

3. lacking in richness, fullness, quantity, etc.; poor:

   a lean diet; lean years.

   Synonyms: jejune, unfruitful, barren, sparse

   Antonyms: fruitful

4. spare; economical:

   a lean prose style.

5. Automotive. (of a mixture in a fuel system) having a relatively low ratio of fuel to air ( rich ).
6. (of paint) having more pigment than oil. Compare fat ( def 12 ).
7. Nautical. (of a bow) having fine lines; sharp.
8. Metallurgy. (of ore) having a low mineral content; low-grade.

noun

1. the part of flesh that consists of muscle rather than fat.
2. the lean part of anything.
3. Typesetting. matter that is difficult to set because of complexity or intermixed fonts. Compare fat ( def 23 ).

Lean

³

[ leen ]

noun

1. David, 1908–91, British film director.

Lean

¹

/ liːn /

noun

1. LeanSir David19081991MEnglishFILMS AND TV: director Sir David. 1908–91, English film director. His films include In Which We Serve (1942), Blithe Spirit (1945), Brief Encounter (1946), Great Expectations (1946), Oliver Twist (1948), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984)

lean

²

/ liːn /

adjective

1. (esp of a person or an animal) having no surplus flesh or bulk; not fat or plump
2. not bulky or full
3. (of meat) having little or no fat
4. not rich, abundant, or satisfying
5. (of a mixture of fuel and air) containing insufficient fuel and too much air

   a lean mixture

6. (of printer's type) having a thin appearance
7. (of a paint) containing relatively little oil
8. (of an ore) not having a high mineral content
9. (of concrete) made with a small amount of cement

noun

1. the part of meat that contains little or no fat

lean

³

/ liːn /

verb

1. foll byagainst, on, or upon to rest or cause to rest against a support
2. to incline or cause to incline from a vertical position
3. intr; foll by to or towards to have or express a tendency or leaning
4. lean over backwards informal.
   to make a special effort, esp in order to please

noun

1. the condition of inclining from a vertical position

Derived Forms

• ˈleanness, noun
• ˈleanly, adverb

Other Words From

• leanly adverb
• leanness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lean¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English lenen, Old English hleonian, hlinian; cognate with German lehnen; akin to Greek klī́nein, Latin -clīnāre “to incline ”

Origin of lean²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English lene, lein(e), Old English hlǣne

Word History and Origins

Origin of lean¹

Old English hlǣne, of Germanic origin

Origin of lean²

Old English hleonian, hlinian; related to Old High German hlinēn, Latin clīnāre to incline

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. lean over backward(s). bend ¹( def 21 ).

Synonym Study

See thin.

Example Sentences

“He showed me inside, fixed us some cheese and crackers, then leaned in and kissed me,” Cher wrote.

From Salon

She leaned heavily on anti-communist messaging to reach out to older voters who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon.

From Los Angeles Times

Mann says his daughter’s leanings toward perfectionism have caused her some anxiety.

From Los Angeles Times

Senate, cautioned California leaders against leaning too hard into the culture wars.

From Los Angeles Times

But Christmas came early for fans of wonky trees when this year's leaning one was unveiled on the recently pedestrianised Broad Street.

From BBC

Related Words

• bow
• drift
• incline
• nod
• prop
• recline
• slant
• tilt
• tip
• twist
• veer

About This Word

What else does lean mean?

Content warning: this article contains references to drug abuse.

In slang, lean is a term for prescription-strength cough syrup mixed with soft drinks and candy. It’s also known by such other names as purple drank or sizzurp.

Where does lean come from?

The term lean, and the practice of drinking it, originated in Houston, Texas, during the late 1980s and 1990s. It was first popularized by the influential producer DJ Screw, who frequently rhymed the words codeine and lean in his music, the resulting intoxication making him slump over (“lean back”). DJ Screw passed away from a codeine overdose in late 2000.

In the mid-2000s, mainstream hip-hop artists like Lil Wayne, Three 6 Mafia, and Gucci Mane helped popularize lean by rapping about the practice of mixing cough syrup and soda.

Lean is glamorized as a relaxing, even euphoria-inducing homemade beverage due to the effect of opiates present in prescription-strength cough syrup. The trend of sippin’ (on) lean has spawned countless hip-hop songs, mixtape titles, and entire album concepts.

How is lean used in real life?

Lean is known as a party beverage and has been described as part of hip-hop and youth culture. According to the lyric website Genius, lean was referenced in over 30% of all hip-hop songs that reached the Billboard Top 100 in 2017.

Rapper Lil Wayne has detailed his unhealthy relationship with lean in numerous songs, most notably in “I Feel Like Dying” from a 2007 mixtape. One music journalist described Wayne’s vivid description of codeine dependency as “torture cloaked in sheer bliss.”

Lean has been named as a cause of death for multiple prominent figures in hip-hop, including A$AP Yams, Pimp C, Big Moe, and several others.

More examples of lean:

“I sip codeine / It makes a southside player lean / Steady stackin green, steady sippin’ codeine
—DJ Screw, “Sippin Codeine” (song), 1996

“Don’t drink lean kids, don’t drink lean. I don’t think it should be a drug that’s glorified. It’s liquid heroin, it’s an opiate.”
—Danny Brown, TimWestWoodTv (YouTube), April 2014

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.