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