What does "lean-to" mean?

A shelter with a sloped roof; also a building with a similar construction attached to the side of a building as an extension.

What is a synonym for "lean-to"?

Common synonyms include: booth, crib, gatehouse, hut, hutch, kiosk.

//ˈliːnˌtuː// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A shelter with a sloped roof; also a building with a similar construction attached to the side of a building as an extension.
"Now we was in the lean-to, and heard trampings close by outside. So we crept to the door, and Tom stopped us there and put his eye to the crack, but couldn't make out nothing, it was so dark"
2
rough shelter whose roof has only one slope wordnet

"The lean-to is far from sturdy, but it will do for storing firewood."

First attested 1461.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.