- 1(usually approving) (of people, especially men, or animals) without much flesh; thin and fit a lean, muscular body He was tall, lean, and handsome.
- 2(of meat) containing little or no fat a lean, tender piece of beef
- 3[usually before noun] (of a period of time) difficult and not producing much money, food, etc. a lean period The company recovered well after going through several lean years. This is the leanest time of the year for the tourist industry. Many animals have a lean time of it in winter.
- 4(of organizations, etc.) strong and efficient because the number of employees has been reduced The changes made the company leaner and more competitive.
NAmE//ˈlinnəs//
noun [uncountable] The dark clothes emphasized the leanness of her body.Idioms efficient and using resources well with little waste a lean and mean organizationSee lean in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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