lean
the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
- the tower had a pronounced tilt
- the ship developed a list to starboard
- he walked with a heavy inclination to the right
• Syn:
tilt, list, inclination, leaning
• Derivationally related forms:
incline (for: inclination), list (for: list), tilt (for: tilt)
• Hypernyms:
position, spatial relation
1. to incline or bend from a vertical position (Freq. 24)
- She leaned over the banister
• Syn:
tilt, tip, slant, angle
• See Also:
tip over (for: tip), lean against, lean on
• Derivationally related forms:
angle (for: angle), slant (for: slant), tilt (for: tilt), leaner
• Hypernyms:
bend, flex
• Hyponyms:
slope, incline, pitch, weather, list,
heel, lean back, recline
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s
- Something is ----ing PP
- Somebody ----s PP
2. cause to lean or incline (Freq. 6)
- He leaned his rifle against the wall
• Derivationally related forms:
leaner
• Hypernyms:
put, set, place, pose, position, lay
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s something PP
- They lean their rifles on the cabinet
3. have a tendency or disposition to do or be something;
be inclined (Freq. 3)
- She tends to be nervous before her lectures
- These dresses run small
- He inclined to corpulence
• Syn:
tend, be given, incline, run
• Derivationally related forms:
inclination (for: incline), tendency (for: tend)
• Hypernyms:
be
• Hyponyms:
take kindly to, suffer, gravitate
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
4. rely on for support (Freq. 1)
- We can lean on this man
• Hypernyms:
trust, swear, rely, bank
• Verb Frames:
- Somebody ----s somebody
- Something ----s somebody
5. cause to lean to the side
- Erosion listed the old tree
• Syn:
list
• Hypernyms:
move
• Verb Group:
list, heel
• Verb Frames:
- Something ----s something
1. lacking excess flesh (Freq. 5)
- you can't be too rich or too thin
- "Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look"-Shakespeare
• Syn:
thin
• Ant:
fat (for: thin)
• Similar to:
anorexic, anorectic, bony, cadaverous, emaciated,
gaunt, haggard, pinched, skeletal, wasted, deep-eyed,
hollow-eyed, sunken-eyed, gangling, gangly, lanky, lank,
spindly, rawboned, reedy, reedlike, twiggy, twiglike,
scarecrowish, scraggy, boney, scrawny, skinny, underweight,
weedy, shriveled, shrivelled, shrunken, withered, wizen,
wizened, slender, slight, slim, svelte, slender-waisted,
slim-waisted, wasp-waisted, spare, trim, spindle-legged, spindle-shanked,
stringy, wiry, wisplike, wispy
• See Also:
ectomorphic, thin
• Derivationally related forms:
leanness, thinness (for: thin)
• Attrubites:
body weight
2. lacking in mineral content or combustible material
- lean ore
- lean fuel
• Ant:
rich
• Derivationally related forms:
leanness
3. containing little excess
- a lean budget
- a skimpy allowance
• Syn:
skimpy
• Similar to:
insufficient, deficient
• Derivationally related forms:
leanness
4. not profitable or prosperous
- a lean year
• Similar to:
unprofitable
• Derivationally related forms:
leanness
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