Adjacent Words

leaning definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal; "the leaning tower of Pisa"; "the headstones were tilted" [syn: atilt, canted, leaning, tilted, tipped] n
1: an inclination to do something; "he felt leanings toward frivolity" [syn: leaning, propensity, tendency]
2: a natural inclination; "he has a proclivity for exaggeration" [syn: proclivity, propensity, leaning]
3: the property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the vertical; "the tower had a pronounced tilt"; "the ship developed a list to starboard"; "he walked with a heavy inclination to the right" [syn: tilt, list, inclination, lean, leaning]
4: the act of deviating from a vertical position

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 15th century a definite but not decisive attraction or tendency — often used in plural <radical leanings> Synonyms: leaning, propensity, proclivity, penchant mean a strong instinct or liking for something. leaning suggests a liking or attraction not strong enough to be decisive or uncontrollable <a student with artistic leanings>. propensity implies a deeply ingrained and usually irresistible inclination <a propensity to offer advice>. proclivity suggests a strong natural proneness usually to something objectionable or evil <a proclivity for violence>. penchant implies a strongly marked taste in the person or an irresistible attraction in the object <a penchant for taking risks>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a tendency or partiality.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lean Lean (l[=e]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Leaned (l[=e]nd), sometimes Leant (l[e^]nt); p. pr. & vb. n. Leaning.] [OE. lenen, AS. hlinian, hleonian, v. i.; akin to OS. hlin[=o]n, D. leunen, OHG. hlin[=e]n, lin[=e]n, G. lehnen, L. inclinare, Gr. kli`nein, L. clivus hill, slope. [root]40. Cf. Declivity, Climax, Incline, Ladder.] 1. To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating; as, she leaned out at the window; a leaning column. ``He leant forward.'' --Dickens. 2. To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; -- with to, toward, etc. They delight rather to lean to their old customs. --Spenser. 3. To rest or rely, for support, comfort, and the like; -- with on, upon, or against. He leaned not on his fathers but himself. --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Leaning Lean"ing, n. The act, or state, of inclining; inclination; tendency; as, a leaning towards Calvinism.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(leanings) Your particular leanings are the beliefs, ideas, or aims you hold or a tendency you have towards them. Many companies are wary of their socialist leanings... I always had a leaning towards sport. = tendency N-COUNT: usu pl, with supp, oft N towards n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Bent, inclination, bias, propensity, proneness. See tendency.

Moby Thesaurus

a thing for, affinity, an ear for, an eye for, angularity, animus, aptitude, aptness, aslant, aslope, atilt, bag, bent, bevel, beveled, bias, biased, cant, canted, canting, capacity for, careening, cast, character, chosen kind, conatus, conduciveness, constitution, cup of tea, delight, diathesis, discrimination, disposition, druthers, eagerness, eccentricity, fancy, fascination, favor, favoritism, feeling for, felicity, flair, forejudgment, genius for, gift for, grain, heeling, idiosyncrasy, ill-balanced, inclination, inclinational, inclinatory, inclined, inclining, individualism, inequality, innate aptitude, interest, involvement, jaundice, jaundiced eye, kidney, lean, leaning tower, liability, liking, list, listing, lopsided, make, makeup, mental set, mettle, mind, mind-set, mold, mutual affinity, mutual attraction, nature, nepotism, off-balance, one-sidedness, out of plumb, out of square, overbalanced, parti pris, partialism, partiality, particular choice, partisanism, partisanship, penchant, personal choice, pitch, pitched, preconception, predilection, predisposition, preference, preferential treatment, prejudgment, prejudice, prepossession, probability, proclivity, proneness, propensity, rake, raking, readiness, recumbent, sensitivity to, set, shelving, shelvy, sideling, sidelong, slant, slanted, slanting, slantways, slantwise, slope, sloped, sloping, soft spot, stamp, strain, streak, stripe, style, susceptibility, swag, sway, sympathy, taste, temper, temperament, tendency, tendent, tendential, tendentious, tending, thing, tilt, tilted, tilting, tip, tipped, tipping, tipsy, top-heavy, tower of Pisa, tropism, turn, turn for, turn of mind, twist, type, unbalanced, undetachment, undispassionateness, unneutrality, unstable, unsteady, warp, weakness, willingness