Lean vs. Mean

Leanverb

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

‘a leaning column’; ‘She leaned out of the window.’;

Meanverb

To intend.

Leanverb

To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; with to, toward, etc.

‘I'm leaning towards voting Conservative in the next election.’;

Meanverb

(transitive) To intend, to plan (to do); to have as one's intention.

‘I didn't mean to knock your tooth out.’; ‘I mean to go to Baddeck this summer.’; ‘I meant to take the car in for a smog check, but it slipped my mind.’;

Leanverb

To rest or rely, for support, comfort, etc.; with on, upon, or against.

Meanverb

(intransitive) To have intentions of a given kind.

‘Don't be angry; she meant well.’;

Leanverb

To hang outwards.

Meanverb

To intend (something) for a given purpose or fate; to predestine.

‘Actually this desk was meant for the subeditor.’; ‘Man was not meant to question such things.’;

Leanverb

To press against.

Meanverb

To convey meaning.

Leanverb

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

Meanverb

(transitive) To convey (a given sense); to signify, or indicate (an object or idea).

‘I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.’; ‘The sky is red this morning—does that mean we're in for a storm?’;

Leanverb

To conceal.

Meanverb

(transitive) Of a word, symbol etc: to have reference to, to signify.

‘What does this hieroglyph mean?’;

Leannoun

(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.’;

Meanverb

(transitive) To have conviction in (something said or expressed); to be sincere in (what one says).

‘Does she really mean what she said to him last night?’; ‘Say what you mean and mean what you say.’;

Leannoun

Meat with no fat on it.

Meanverb

(transitive) To result in; to bring about.

‘One faltering step means certain death.’;

Leannoun

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

Meanverb

(transitive) To be important (to).

‘My home life means a lot to me.’;

Leanadjective

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

Meanverb

To lament.

Leanadjective

(of meat) Having little fat.

‘lean steak cuts’;

Meanadjective

(obsolete) Common; general.

Leanadjective

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

‘a lean budget’; ‘a lean harvest’;

Meanadjective

Of a common or low origin, grade, or quality; common; humble.

‘a man of mean parentage’; ‘/ a mean abode’;

Leanadjective

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

‘A lean ore hardly worth mining.’; ‘Running on too lean a fuel-air mixture will cause, among other problems, your internal combustion engine to heat up too much.’;

Meanadjective

Low in quality or degree; inferior; poor; shabby.

‘a mean appearance’; ‘/ mean dress’;

Leanadjective

Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.

‘lean copy, matter, or type’;

Meanadjective

Without dignity of mind; destitute of honour; low-minded; spiritless; base.

‘a mean motive’;

Leanadjective

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

‘lean management’; ‘lean manufacturing’; ‘Alcoa is now a lean and agile enterprise, after having split last year into two entities.’;

Meanadjective

Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.

Leanverb

To conceal.

Meanadjective

Ungenerous; stingy, tightfisted; North American English: cheap; formal: niggardly, penurious, miserly.

‘He's so mean. I've never seen him spend so much as five pounds on presents for his children.’;

Leanverb

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.

Meanadjective

Disobliging; pettily offensive or unaccommodating; small.

Leanverb

To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; - with to, toward, etc.

‘They delight rather to lean to their old customs.’;

Meanadjective

Selfish; acting without consideration of others; unkind.

‘It was mean to steal the girl's piggy bank, but he just had to get uptown and he had no cash of his own.’;

Leanverb

To rest or rely, for support, comfort, and the like; - with on, upon, or against.

‘He leaned not on his fathers but himself.’;

Meanadjective

Causing or intending to cause intentional harm; bearing ill will towards another; cruel; malicious.

‘Watch out for her, she's mean. I said good morning to her, and she punched me in the nose.’;

Leanverb

To cause to lean; to incline; to support or rest.

‘His fainting limbs against an oak he leant.’;

Meanadjective

Powerful; fierce; harsh; damaging.

‘It must have been a mean typhoon that levelled this town.’;

Leanadjective

Wanting flesh; destitute of or deficient in fat; slim; not plump; slender; meager; thin; lank; as, a lean body; a lean cattle.

Meanadjective

Accomplished with great skill; deft; hard to compete with.

‘Your mother can roll a mean cigarette.’; ‘He hits a mean backhand.’;

Leanadjective

Wanting fullness, richness, sufficiency, or productiveness; deficient in quality or contents; slender; scant; barren; bare; mean; - used literally and figuratively; as, the lean harvest; a lean purse; a lean discourse; lean wages.

‘Their lean and flashy songs.’; ‘What the land is, whether it be fat or lean.’; ‘Out of my lean and low abilityI'll lend you something.’;

Meanadjective

Difficult, tricky.

‘This problem is mean!’;

Leanadjective

Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; - opposed to fat; as, lean copy, matter, or type.

Meanadjective

Having the mean (see noun below) as its value.

Leannoun

That part of flesh which consists principally of muscle without the fat.

‘The fat was so white and the lean was so ruddy.’;

Meanadjective

(obsolete) Middling; intermediate; moderately good, tolerable.

Leannoun

Unremunerative copy or work.

Meannoun

A method or course of action used to achieve some result.

Leannoun

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’;

Meannoun

An intermediate step or intermediate steps.

Leanverb

to incline or bend from a vertical position;

‘She leaned over the banister’;

Meannoun

Something which is intermediate or in the middle; an intermediate value or range of values; a medium.

Leanverb

cause to lean or incline;

‘He leaned his rifle against the wall’;

Meannoun

The middle part of three-part polyphonic music; now specifically, the alto part in polyphonic music; an alto instrument.

Leanverb

have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined;

‘She tends to be nervous before her lectures’; ‘These dresses run small’; ‘He inclined to corpulence’;

Meannoun

(statistics) The average of a set of values, calculated by summing them together and dividing by the number of terms; the arithmetic mean.

Leanverb

rely on for support;

‘We can lean on this man’;

Meannoun

(mathematics) Any function of multiple variables that satisfies certain properties and yields a number representative of its arguments; or, the number so yielded; a measure of central tendency.

Leanverb

cause to lean to the side;

‘Erosion listed the old tree’;

Meannoun

(mathematics) Either of the two numbers in the middle of a conventionally presented proportion, as 2 and 3 in 1:2=3:6.

Leanadjective

lacking excess flesh;

‘you can't be too rich or too thin’; ‘Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look’;

Meanverb

To have in the mind, as a purpose, intention, etc.; to intend; to purpose; to design; as, what do you mean to do?

‘What mean ye by this service ?’; ‘Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.’; ‘I am not a SpaniardTo say that it is yours and not to mean it.’;

Leanadjective

lacking in mineral content or combustible material;

‘lean ore’; ‘lean fuel’;

Meanverb

To signify; to indicate; to import; to denote.

‘What mean these seven ewe lambs ?’; ‘Go ye, and learn what that meaneth.’;

Leanadjective

containing little excess;

‘a lean budget’; ‘a skimpy allowance’;

Meanverb

To have a purpose or intention.

Leanadjective

low in mineral content;

‘a lean ore’;

Meanadjective

Destitute of distinction or eminence; common; low; vulgar; humble.

‘The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself.’;

Leanadjective

not profitable or prosperous;

‘a lean year’;

Meanadjective

Wanting dignity of mind; low-minded; base; destitute of honor; spiritless; as, a mean motive.

‘Can you imagine I so mean could prove,To save my life by changing of my love ?’;

Leanverb

be in or move into a sloping position

‘he leaned back in his chair’;

Meanadjective

Of little value or account; worthy of little or no regard; contemptible; despicable.

‘The Roman legions and great Cæsar foundOur fathers no mean foes.’;

Leanverb

incline from the perpendicular and rest for support against (something)

‘a man was leaning against the wall’;

Meanadjective

Of poor quality; as, mean fare.

Leanverb

cause something to rest against

‘he leaned his elbows on the table’;

Meanadjective

Penurious; stingy; close-fisted; illiberal; as, mean hospitality.

Leannoun

a deviation from the perpendicular; an inclination

‘the vehicle has a definite lean to the left’;

Meanadjective

Occupying a middle position; middle; being about midway between extremes.

‘Being of middle age and a mean stature.’;

Leannoun

the lean part of meat

‘the man who eats no fat and the wife who eats no lean’;

Meanadjective

Intermediate in excellence of any kind.

‘According to the fittest style of lofty, mean, or lowly.’;

Leanadjective

(of a person or animal) thin, especially healthily so; having no superfluous fat

‘his lean, muscular body’;

Meanadjective

Average; having an intermediate value between two extremes, or between the several successive values of a variable quantity during one cycle of variation; as, mean distance; mean motion; mean solar day.

Leanadjective

(of meat) containing little fat

‘lean bacon’;

Meannoun

That which is mean, or intermediate, between two extremes of place, time, or number; the middle point or place; middle rate or degree; mediocrity; medium; absence of extremes or excess; moderation; measure.

‘But to speak in a mean, the virtue of prosperity is temperance; the virtue of adversity is fortitude.’; ‘There is a mean in all things.’; ‘The extremes we have mentioned, between which the wellinstracted Christian holds the mean, are correlatives.’;

Leanadjective

(of an industry or company) efficient and with no wastage

‘staff were pruned, ostensibly to produce a leaner and fitter organization’;

Meannoun

A quantity having an intermediate value between several others, from which it is derived, and of which it expresses the resultant value; usually, unless otherwise specified, it is the simple average, formed by adding the quantities together and dividing by their number, which is called an arithmetical mean. A geometrical mean is the nth root of the product of the n quantities being averaged.

Leanadjective

offering little reward, substance, or nourishment; meagre

‘the lean winter months’; ‘keep a small reserve to tide you over the lean years’;

Meannoun

That through which, or by the help of which, an end is attained; something tending to an object desired; intermediate agency or measure; necessary condition or coagent; instrument.

‘Their virtuous conversation was a mean to work the conversion of the heathen to Christ.’; ‘You may be able, by this mean, to review your own scientific acquirements.’; ‘Philosophical doubt is not an end, but a mean.’; ‘By this means he had them more at vantage.’; ‘What other means is left unto us.’;

Leanadjective

(of a vaporized fuel mixture) having a high proportion of air

‘lean air-to-fuel ratios’;

Meannoun

Resources; property, revenue, or the like, considered as the condition of easy livelihood, or an instrumentality at command for effecting any purpose; disposable force or substance.

‘Your means are very slender, and your waste is great.’;

Meannoun

A part, whether alto or tenor, intermediate between the soprano and base; a middle part.

‘The mean is drowned with your unruly base.’;

Meannoun

Meantime; meanwhile.

Meannoun

A mediator; a go-between.

‘He wooeth her by means and by brokage.’; ‘If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead.’; ‘The wine on this side of the lake is by no means so good as that on the other.’;

Meannoun

an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n

Meanverb

mean or intend to express or convey;

‘You never understand what I mean!’; ‘what do his words intend?’;

Meanverb

have as a logical consequence;

‘The water shortage means that we have to stop taking long showers’;

Meanverb

denote or connote;

‘`maison' means `house' in French’; ‘An example sentence would show what this word means’;

Meanverb

have in mind as a purpose;

‘I mean no harm’; ‘I only meant to help you’; ‘She didn't think to harm me’; ‘We thought to return early that night’;

Meanverb

have a specified degree of importance;

‘My ex-husband means nothing to me’; ‘Happiness means everything’;

Meanverb

intend to refer to;

‘I'm thinking of good food when I talk about France’; ‘Yes, I meant you when I complained about people who gossip!’;

Meanverb

destine or designate for a certain purpose;

‘These flowers were meant for you’;

Meanadjective

approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value;

‘the average income in New England is below that of the nation’; ‘of average height for his age’; ‘the mean annual rainfall’;

Meanadjective

characterized by malice;

‘a hateful thing to do’; ‘in a mean mood’;

Meanadjective

having or showing an ignoble lack of honor or morality;

‘that liberal obedience without which your army would be a base rabble’; ‘taking a mean advantage’; ‘chok'd with ambition of the meaner sort’; ‘something essentially vulgar and meanspirited in politics’;

Meanadjective

excellent;

‘famous for a mean backhand’;

Meanadjective

marked by poverty befitting a beggar;

‘a beggarly existence in the slums’; ‘a mean hut’;

Meanadjective

used of persons or behavior; characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity;

‘a mean person’; ‘he left a miserly tip’;

Meanadjective

used of sums of money; so small in amount as to deserve contempt

Meanverb

intend to convey or refer to (a particular thing); signify

‘I don't know what you mean’; ‘I meant you, not Jones’; ‘he was asked to clarify what his remarks meant’;

Meanverb

(of a word) have (something) as its signification in the same language or its equivalent in another language

‘its name means ‘painted rock’ in Cherokee’;

Meanverb

genuinely intend to express (something)

‘when she said that she meant it’;

Meanverb

be of a specified degree of importance to (someone)

‘animals have always meant more to him than people’;

Meanverb

intend (something) to occur or be the case

‘it was meant to be a secret’; ‘they mean no harm’;

Meanverb

be supposed to do something

‘we were meant to go over yesterday’;

Meanverb

design or destine for a particular purpose

‘the jacket was meant for a much larger person’;

Meanverb

have something as a motive or explanation in saying or doing

‘what do you mean by leaving me out here in the cold?’;

Meanverb

be generally considered to be

‘this one's meant to be priceless’;

Meanverb

have as a consequence or result

‘the proposals are likely to mean another hundred closures’; ‘heavy rain meant that the pitch was waterlogged’;

Meanverb

necessarily or usually entail or involve

‘coal stoves mean a lot of smoke’;

Meanadjective

unwilling to give or share things, especially money; not generous

‘they're not mean with the garlic’; ‘she felt mean not giving a tip’;

Meanadjective

unkind, spiteful, or unfair

‘I was mean to them over the festive season’;

Meanadjective

vicious or aggressive in behaviour

‘the dogs were considered mean, vicious, and a threat’;

Meanadjective

(especially of a place) poor in quality and appearance; shabby

‘her home was mean and small’;

Meanadjective

(of a person's mental capacity or understanding) inferior

‘it was obvious to even the meanest intelligence’;

Meanadjective

of low birth or social class

‘a muffler like that worn by the meanest of people’;

Meanadjective

very skilful or effective; excellent

‘she dances a mean tango’; ‘he's a mean cook’;

Meanadjective

(of a quantity) calculated as a mean; average

‘participants in the study had a mean age of 35 years’;

Meanadjective

equally far from two extremes

‘hope is the mean virtue between despair and presumption’;

Meannoun

the value obtained by dividing the sum of several quantities by their number; an average

‘acid output was calculated by taking the mean of all three samples’;

Meannoun

a condition, quality, or course of action equally removed from two opposite extremes

‘the measure expresses a mean between saving and splashing out’;

Mean

There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics: For a data set, the arithmetic mean, also known as average or arithmetic average, is a central value of a finite set of numbers: specifically, the sum of the values divided by the number of values. The arithmetic mean of a set of numbers x1, x2, ..., xn is typically denoted by x ¯ {\displaystyle {\bar {x}}} .