Leaning
//ˈliːnɪŋ// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A tendency or propensity.
"a man of socialist leanings"
- 2 the act of deviating from a vertical position wordnet
- 3 the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical wordnet
- 4 a natural inclination wordnet
- 5 an inclination to do something wordnet
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of lean form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
- 1 departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal wordnet
Example
More examples"The box is leaning to one side."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English lening, leninge, from Old English hlinung (“leaning; resting; place of rest”), equivalent to lean + -ing.
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Related phrases
More for "leaning"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.