Lean a. [Compar. Leaner superl. Leanest.]
 1. Wanting flesh; destitute of or deficient in fat; slim; not plump; slender; meager; thin; lank; as, a lean body; a lean cattle.
 2. Wanting fullness, richness, sufficiency, or productiveness; deficient in quality or contents; slender; scant; barren; bare; mean; -- used literally and figuratively; as, the lean harvest; a lean purse; a lean discourse; lean wages. “No lean wardrobe.”
    Their lean and flashy songs.   --Milton.
    What the land is, whether it be fat or lean.   --Num. xiii. 20.
 Out of my lean and low ability
 I'll lend you something.   --Shak.
 3. Typog. Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; -- opposed to fat; as, lean copy, matter, or type.
 Syn: -- slender; spare; thin; meager; lank; skinny; gaunt.
 leaner
      n : (horseshoes) the throw of a horseshoe so as to lean against
          (but not encircle) the stake