4 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

leaning

adjective

1: departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal; "the leaning tower of Pisa"; "the headstones were tilted" [syn: {atilt}, {canted}, {tilted}, {tipped}]

2: resting against a support

noun

1: an inclination to do something; "he felt leanings toward frivolity" [syn: {propensity}, {tendency}]

2: a natural inclination; "he has a proclivity for exaggeration" [syn: {proclivity}, {propensity}]

3: 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}, {lean}]

4: the act of deviating from a vertical position

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Lean \Lean\ (l[=e]n), verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Leaned} (l[=e]nd), sometimes {Leant} (l[e^]nt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Leaning}.] [OE. lenen, AS. hlinian, hleonian, verb (used without an object); akin to OS. hlin[=o]n, D. leunen, OHG. hlin[=e]n, lin[=e]n, G. lehnen, L. inclinare, Gr. kli'nein, L. clivus hill, slope. [root]40. Cf. {Declivity}, {Climax}, {Incline}, {Ladder}.]

1. To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating; as, she leaned out at the window; a leaning column. ''He leant forward.'' --Dickens.

2. To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; -- with to, toward, etc.

They delight rather to lean to their old customs. --Spenser.

3. To rest or rely, for support, comfort, and the like; -- with on, upon, or against.

He leaned not on his fathers but himself. --Tennyson.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Leaning \Lean"ing\, noun The act, or state, of inclining; inclination; tendency; as, a leaning towards Calvinism.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

169 Moby Thesaurus words for "leaning": a thing for, affinity, an ear for, an eye for, angularity, animus, aptitude, aptness, aslant, aslope, atilt, bag, bent, bevel, beveled, bias, biased, cant, canted, canting, capacity for, careening, cast, character, chosen kind, conatus, conduciveness, constitution, cup of tea, delight, diathesis, discrimination, disposition, druthers, eagerness, eccentricity, fancy, fascination, favor, favoritism, feeling for, felicity, flair, forejudgment, genius for, gift for, grain, heeling, idiosyncrasy, ill-balanced, inclination, inclinational, inclinatory, inclined, inclining, individualism, inequality, innate aptitude, interest, involvement, jaundice, jaundiced eye, kidney, lean, leaning tower, liability, liking, list, listing, lopsided, make, makeup, mental set, mettle, mind, mind-set, mold, mutual affinity, mutual attraction, nature, nepotism, off-balance, one-sidedness, out of plumb, out of square, overbalanced, parti pris, partialism, partiality, particular choice, partisanism, partisanship, penchant, personal choice, pitch, pitched, preconception, predilection, predisposition, preference, preferential treatment, prejudgment, prejudice, prepossession, probability, proclivity, proneness, propensity, rake, raking, readiness, recumbent, sensitivity to, set, shelving, shelvy, sideling, sidelong, slant, slanted, slanting, slantways, slantwise, slope, sloped, sloping, soft spot, stamp, strain, streak, stripe, style, susceptibility, swag, sway, sympathy, taste, temper, temperament, tendency, tendent, tendential, tendentious, tending, thing, tilt, tilted, tilting, tip, tipped, tipping, tipsy, top-heavy, tower of Pisa, tropism, turn, turn for, turn of mind, twist, type, unbalanced, undetachment, undispassionateness, unneutrality, unstable, unsteady, warp, weakness, willingness

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