different between flex vs lean

English

Etymology

Latin flexus, past participle of flecto (“to bend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fl?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks
• Homophone: flecks

Noun

flex (countable and uncountable, plural flexes)

1. (uncountable) Flexibility, pliancy.
2. (countable) The or an act of flexing.
   • 2002, Gary Noy, Red Dirt: A Journey of Discovery in the Landscape of Imagination, California's Gold Country, iUniverse (?ISBN), page 144:

     The hills become more rounded. The slopes are either the stooped shoulders of an aging colossus or the muscular flexes of a geologic youngster, but they are pleasant, comforting. This landscape is what most would think of […]

3. (uncountable, chiefly Britain) Any flexible insulated electrical wiring.
4. (uncountable) Flexible ductwork, typically flexible plastic over a metal wire coil to shape a tube.
   • 2010, Aaron Lubeck, Green Restorations: Sustainable Building and Historic Homes (page 221)

     Flex is quick and cheaper to install than metallic systems, but it yields higher pressure loss than other types of ducts and requires runs of less than 15 feet, minimal turns and elimination of kinks.

5. (countable, geometry) A point of inflection.
6. (countable, slang) The act of flaunting something; something one considers impressive.
   • 2017, "Mogul Bites", Black American Moguls, Fall 2017, page 6:

     Getting together with other power players at Masa is the ultimate flex of conspicuous consumption. […] A party of five or more requires a deposit of $200 per person at least one week prior to the reservation.

   • 2019, Seth Sommerfeld, "Worldwide Web", Inlander, 4 July 2019 - 10 July 2019, page 37:

     It's an achievement to stand out from other Marvel movies in terms of special effects, but this whole movie feels like a flex for those computer wizards.

   • 2020, Daniel Varghese, "Aesop's Hand Sanitizer Is a Flex for an Anxious Time", GQ, 6 March 2020
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:flex.

Translations

Verb

flex (third-person singular simple present flexes, present participle flexing, simple past and past participle flexed)

1. (transitive) To bend something.
2. (transitive) To repeatedly bend one of one's joints.
3. (transitive) To move part of the body using one's muscles.
4. (intransitive) To tighten the muscles for display of size or strength.
5. (intransitive, slang, by extension) To flaunt one's superiority.

Translations

Related terms

• flexibility
• flexible
• flexing
• flexion

Anagrams

• XFEL

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?n, IPA^(key): /li?n/
• Rhymes: -i?n
• Homophone: lien

Etymology 1

From Middle English lenen (“to lean”), from Old English hleonian, hlinian (“to lean, recline, lie down, rest”), from Proto-Germanic *hlin?n? (“to lean, incline”), from Proto-Indo-European *?ley-. Cognate via Proto-Germanic with Middle Dutch leunen (“to lean”), German lehnen (“to lean”); via Proto-Indo-European with climate, cline.

Verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned or (UK) leant)

1. To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.

2. (copulative) To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
3. Followed by against, on, or upon: to rest or rely, for support, comfort, etc.
4. To hang outwards.
5. To press against.

Derived terms

Related terms

• climate
• cline

Translations

Noun

lean (plural leans)

1. (of an object taller than its width and depth) An inclination away from the vertical.

   The trees had various leans toward gaps in the canopy.

Synonyms

• (inclination away from vertical): tilt

Etymology 2

From Middle English lene (“lean”), from Old English hl?ne (“lean”), (cognate with Low German leen), perhaps from hl?nan (“to cause to lean (due to hunger or lack of food)”), from Proto-Germanic *hlainijan? (“to cause to lean”). If so, then related to Old English hlinian, hleonian (“to lean”).

Adjective

lean (comparative leaner, superlative leanest)

1. (of a person or animal) Slim; not fleshy.

   Synonyms: lithe, svelte, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender

2. (of meat) Having little fat.

3. Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.

   Synonyms: insufficient, scarce, sparse; see also Thesaurus:inadequate

4. Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.

   Synonyms: deficient, dilute, poor

   Antonym: rich

5. (printing, archaic) Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.

6. (business) Efficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean manufacturing"

Derived terms

• leanness
• leansome

Translations

Noun

lean (countable and uncountable, plural leans)

1. (uncountable) Meat with no fat on it.
   • 1639 or earlier, Anon, Jack Sprat

     Jack Sprat would eat no fat, / His wife would eat no lean.

2. (countable, biology) An organism that is lean in stature.
   • 1986, Southwest Fisheries Center (U.S.), Collected Reprints (issue 1)

     The intermediates and leans are the predominant morphotypes found at the SE-NHR seamounts […]

   • 2012, Obesity: New Insights for the Healthcare Professional (page 56)

     Obese Zuckers, compared to leans, consumed more food under free-feeding conditions.

Verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned)

1. To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.

Etymology 3

From Icelandic leyna? Akin to German leugnen (“deny”). Compare lie (“speak falsely”).

Verb

lean (third-person singular simple present leans, present participle leaning, simple past and past participle leaned)

1. To conceal.

References

Etymology 4

Probably from the verb to lean (see etymology 1 above), supposedly because consumption of the intoxicating beverage causes one to "lean".

Noun

lean (uncountable)

1. (slang, US) A recreational drug based on codeine-laced promethazine cough syrup, popular in the hip hop community in the southeastern United States.

   Synonyms: sizzurp, syrup, purple drank

See also

• lean on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• lean in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• lean in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Alne, ELAN, Lane, Lena, Nale, Neal, elan, enal, lane, nale, neal, élan

Galician

Verb

lean

1. third-person plural present subjunctive of ler

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish lenaid (“stays, sticks (to), follows”), from Proto-Celtic *linati (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?leyH- (“to smear”); compare Latin lin? (“anoint”), l?mus (“mud, slime”), Sanskrit ?????? (lin?ti, “sticks, stays”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /l?an??/
• (Connacht, Ulster) IPA^(key): /l??an?/, /l??an??/

Verb

lean (present analytic leanann, future analytic leanfaidh, verbal noun leanúint, past participle leanta)

1. (transitive, intransitive) follow
2. continue

3. remain
4. endure

Conjugation

• Alternative verbal noun: leanacht (Cois Fharraige)

Derived terms

• folean
• leantóir

Further reading

• "lean" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “lenaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /?lea?n/

Verb

lean

1. inflection of leat:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. past indicative connegative

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /læ???n/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *laun?, from a suffixed form of Proto-Indo-European *leh?w- (“catch, plunder, profit”). Cognate with Old Frisian l?n, Old Saxon l?n, Dutch loon, Old High German l?n (German Lohn), Old Norse laun (Swedish lön), Gothic ???????????????? (laun). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ???? (leía) (from *?????), Latin lucrum, Old Church Slavonic ???? (lov?) (Russian ??? (lov)), Old Irish lóg, Lithuanian lãvinti.

Noun

l?an n

1. reward

Declension

Derived terms

• i?l?an

Related terms

• l?anian

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *lahan?. Cognate with Old Saxon lahan, Old High German lahan, Old Norse lá, Gothic ???????????????????? (laian).

Verb

l?an

1. (transitive) to blame, fault, reproach

Conjugation

Descendants

• Middle English: *l?en (attested in past tense lough)

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish lenaid (“stays, sticks (to), follows”), from Proto-Celtic *linati (“stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?leyH- (“to smear”); compare Latin lin? (“anoint”), Sanskrit ?????? (lin?ti, “sticks, stays”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n/

Verb

lean (past lean, future leanaidh, verbal noun leantainn or leanmhainn, past participle leanta)

1. follow
2. continue, proceed

Derived terms

• fo-leantach (“subjunctive”)
• lean air (“continue”)
• ainlean (“persecute”)

Spanish

Verb

lean

1. Second-person plural (ustedes) imperative form of leer.
2. Second-person plural (ustedes) present subjunctive form of leer.
3. Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes^?) present subjunctive form of leer.

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

lean n (plural leanen, diminutive leantsje)

1. wage, wages, salary
2. reward

Further reading

• “lean”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011