- glean
- to stealLiterally, to pick up ears of corn left by the reapers. Usually of pilfering small articles.
How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. R. W. Holder. 2014.
glean
Look at other dictionaries:
Glean — Glean, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Gleaned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Gleaning}.] [OE. glenen, OF. glener, glaner, F. glaner, fr. LL. glenare; cf. W. glan clean, glanh?u to clean, purify, or AS. gelm, gilm, a hand?ul.] [1913 Webster] 1. To gather after a… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Glean — Glean, v. i. 1. To gather stalks or ears of grain left by reapers. [1913 Webster] And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers. Ruth ii. 3. [1913 Webster] 2. To pick up or gather anything by degrees. [1913 Webster] Piecemeal … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
glean — glean; glean·er; glean·ings; … English syllables
glean´er — glean «gleen», transitive verb. 1. to gather (stalks of grain, ears of corn, or the like) left on a field by reapers: »They gleaned enough potatoes from the field after harvest to fill a large sack. 2. to strip (a field) of grain, corn, or the… … Useful english dictionary
Glean — Glean, n. A collection made by gleaning. [1913 Webster] The gleans of yellow thyme distend his thighs. Dryden. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Glean — Glean, n. Cleaning; afterbirth. [Obs.] Holland. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
glean — [gli:n] v [Date: 1300 1400; : Old French; Origin: glener, from Late Latin glennare] 1.) [T] to find out information slowly and with difficulty glean sth from sb/sth ▪ Additional information was gleaned from other sources. 2.) [I and T] to collect … Dictionary of contemporary English
glean — early 14c., from O.Fr. glener (Mod.Fr. glaner) to glean, from L.L. glennare make a collection, perhaps from Gaulish (Cf. O.Ir. do glinn he collects, gathers, Celt. glan clean, pure ). Figurative sense was earlier in English than the literal one… … Etymology dictionary
glean — I verb accumulate, aggregate, amass, assemble, batch together, bring together, collect, cull, cumulate, draw together, extract, facere, garner, gather, harvest, lay in store, obtain, pick up, procure, save, scrape together II index acquire… … Law dictionary
glean — [ glin ] verb 1. ) transitive FORMAL to learn small pieces of information by asking questions or watching or listening carefully: GARNER: Their decisions were based on financial information gleaned from the Internet. 2. ) intransitive or… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
glean — *reap, gather, garner, harvest Analogous words: pick (see CHOOSE): *strip, divest … New Dictionary of Synonyms
