HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
adj. lean·er, lean·est 1. a. Not fleshy or fat; thin. b. Containing little fat or less fat relative to a standard: lean hamburger. 2. a. Not productive or prosperous; meager: lean years. b. Containing little excess or waste; spare: a lean budget. c. Thrifty in management, especially by employing just enough people to accomplish a task or do business: "Company leaders know their industries must be lean to survive" (Christian Science Monitor). 3. a. Metallurgy Low in mineral contents: lean ore. b. Chemistry Lacking in combustible material: lean fuel. n. Meat with little or no fat. [Middle English lene, from Old English hlǣne.] leanly adv. leanness n. Synonyms: lean2, skinny, scrawny, lank, lanky, gaunt These adjectives mean lacking excess flesh. Lean emphasizes absence of fat but usually suggests good health: The farmer fattened the lean cattle for market. Skinny and scrawny imply unattractive thinness, as from undernourishment: "His face and belly were so round, and his arms so skinny, that he looked like a dough ball with four sticks stuck into it" (John Green)."He [had] a long, scrawny neck that rose out of a very low collar" (Winston Churchill). Lank describes one who is thin and tall, and lanky one who is thin, tall, and ungraceful: "He was ... exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders" (Washington Irving). The boy had developed into a lanky adolescent. Gaunt implies boniness and a haggard appearance; it may suggest illness or hardship: a white-haired pioneer, her face gaunt from overwork. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
