What does "glean" mean?
A collection of something made by gleaning.
Glean
/ɡliːn/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A collection of something made by gleaning.
- Grammar: glean is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accumulate, amass, ascertain, assemble.
- Useful contrasts: discard, discarded crops, ignore.
- Usage evidence: Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor."
How to use "glean"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "glean" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "glean" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "glean" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A collection of something made by gleaning. dialectal
"Even the greateſt, in reſpect of God, is but a gleaner. God, he is the Maſter of the Harveſt; all Gifts and Graces they are his, in an infinite meaſure; and every godly man, more or leſſe, gleanes from him. Abraham gleaned a great gleane of Faith; Moſes, of Meekneſſe; […]"
- 2 The afterbirth or placenta of an animal, especially a cow or sheep. obsolete
"The gleane of a covv hauing nevvly calved, taken vvhiles it is moiſt and ſo applied, is good for any ulcers of the viſage."
Verb
- 1 To collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest. transitive
"So holy, and ſo perfect is my loue, / And I in ſuch a pouerty of grace, / That I ſhall thinke it a moſt plenteous crop / To gleane the broken eares after the man / That the maine harueſt reapes: […]"
- 2 Of an animal, especially a cow or sheep: to deliver its afterbirth or placenta. intransitive, obsolete
"To make a Covv glean vvell, and keep her in Health aftervvards.— […] And as it is a Cuſtom vvith ſome to give all their Covvs a cleanſing Drink after Calving, I recommend this to be a good one for that Purpoſe.— […] A fourth is, to boil a Quart of ground Malt in tvvo Quarts of Ale, and give all vvarm. A certain Perſon gave this laſt to a Covv, vvhich, on the third Day after Calving, had not gleaned; but in five Days after it came avvay vvhole."
- 3 gather, as of natural products wordnet
- 4 To collect fruit, grain, or other produce from (a field, an orchard, etc.), after the main gathering or harvest. transitive
"And thou ſhalt not gleane thy vineyard, neither ſhalt thou gather euery grape of thy vineyard; thou ſhalt leaue them for the poore and ſtranger: I am the Lord your God."
- 5 To gather (something, now chiefly something intangible such as experience or information) in small amounts over a period of time, often with some difficulty; to scrape together. figuratively, transitive
"[Ferdinand] Magellan ſoone after ſailes yet more South, and paſſes that Fretum or ſtrait, vvith more reaſon called Magellan, a hundred others haue ſince that gleaned ſeueral additions of Titles and nevv names their diſtributed."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 To take away (someone's) possessions; to strip (someone) bare. figuratively, transitive
- 7 Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking (prey, mainly arthropods such as insects) from various places. figuratively, transitive
"Frigate birds glean a portion of their livelihood from the host of creatures which live at the surface of the ocean: flying-fishes, ctenophores, jelly-fishes, velela, janthina, and in fact anything that may attract their fancy. I even observed one bird aimlessly carrying a splinter of wood, uncertain of its utility, yet unwilling to release it."
- 8 To collect or gather (things) into one mass. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"Such ſlender arguments be gleaneth together agaynſt vs, ſeeking bye matters. But what ſhould he do? elſe ſhould he haue nought to furniſhe his counterblaſt withall."
- 9 To cut off (straggling soldiers separated from their units) during a conflict; to isolate. figuratively, obsolete, transitive
"And they turned and fled toward the wilderneſſe vnto the rocke of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the high wayes fiue thouſand men: and purſued hard after them vnto Gidom, and ſlew two thouſand men of them."
- 10 To collect fruit, grain, or other produce after the main gathering or harvest. intransitive
"Put nat your horſes in to the corne felde yet for my folkes haue nat gleaned there yet: […]"
- 11 Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking prey, mainly arthropods such as insects, from various places. intransitive
"On migration, it [the Wilson's warbler (Cardellina pusilla)] appears as a sunny flash of gold in roadside shrubs or swamp thickets, refueling on insects gleaned from leaves or caught in midair forays."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor.""
Common questions
What is a synonym for "glean"?
Common synonyms include: accumulate, amass, ascertain, assemble, bring in, bring together.
How do you use "glean" in a sentence?
Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me now go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I find favor."
How do you pronounce "glean"?
Pronounced /ɡliːn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the present active infinitive of glen(n)ō (“to make a collection”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *glanos (“clean; clear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- (“to glow, shine; to be glowing or shining”). The noun is derived from Late Middle English glene (“collection of heads of grain gathered by gleaning; head of grain”), from Old French glene, glane (“act of gleaning; legal right to glean”) (modern French glane (“act of gleaning”)), from glener, glainer (verb): see above. cognates * Medieval Latin glana, glena (“bundle of ears of grain”)
Etymology 2
Possibly a variant of clean (“(UK, dialectal; noun) the afterbirth of a cow or sheep; (verb) of a cow or sheep: to bring forth the afterbirth”), possibly from clean (“to remove dirt from an object or place”), referring to an animal’s uterus being cleaned out by the delivery of the afterbirth.