| / English Dictionary |
LEANING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of deviating from a vertical position
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("leaning" is a kind of...):
act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical
Example:
he walked with a heavy inclination to the right
Synonyms:
inclination; lean; leaning; list; tilt
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("leaning" is a kind of...):
position; spatial relation (the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A natural inclination
Example:
he has a proclivity for exaggeration
Synonyms:
leaning; proclivity; propensity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("leaning" is a kind of...):
disposition; inclination; tendency (an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others)
Sense 4
Meaning:
An inclination to do something
Example:
he felt leanings toward frivolity
Synonyms:
leaning; propensity; tendency
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("leaning" is a kind of...):
inclination (that toward which you are inclined to feel a liking)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
Example:
the headstones were tilted
Synonyms:
atilt; canted; leaning; tilted; tipped
Classified under:
Similar:
inclined (at an angle to the horizontal or vertical position)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb lean
Context examples:
The girl fled away to the house, but as she ran she looked back and saw that the stranger was leaning through the window.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The man ruddy and yellow-haired, stood leaning upon the spade wherewith he had been at work upon the garden patch.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Yes, ma'am, I just see him leaning back in it, but he did not look up;—he never was a gentleman much for talking.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
He was a tall man, clad in a dark dressing-gown, and leaning heavily upon a stick.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Catherine looked round and saw Miss Tilney leaning on her brother's arm, walking slowly down the street.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Anne was obliged to turn away, to rise, to walk to a distant table, and, leaning there in pretended employment, try to subdue the feelings this picture excited.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
The old man, leaning on his son, walked each day at noon, when it did not rain, as I found it was called when the heavens poured forth its waters.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Mr. Darcy, who was leaning against the mantelpiece with his eyes fixed on her face, seemed to catch her words with no less resentment than surprise.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
She sang softly, leaning in the cradle of his arm, her hands in his, their hearts in each other's hands.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
As we passed the two-pointed hill, we could see the black mouth of Ben Gunn's cave and a figure standing by it, leaning on a musket.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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