<p><strong>Verb (used without object)</strong></p><ul><li>leaned or (especially British) leant; leaning.</li><li>to incline or bend from a vertical position: She leaned out the window.</li><li>to incline, as in a particular direction; slant: The post leans to the left.</li><li>to incline in feeling, opinion, action, etc.: to lean toward socialism.</li><li>to rest against or on something for support: to lean against a wall.</li><li>to depend or rely (usually followed by on or upon): someone he could lean on in an emergency.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used with object)</strong></p><ul><li>to cause to lean or rest; prop: to lean a chair against the railing.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>the act or state of leaning; inclination: The tower has a pronounced lean.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb phrase</strong></p><ul><li>Informal. 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.</li><li>to criticize, reprimand, or punish: I would have enjoyed school more if the teachers hadn't leaned on me so much.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li></ul>