Keen vs Lean - What's the difference?
keen | lean |
showing a quick and ardent willingness or responsiveness, enthusiastic, eager; interested, intense.
vehement; fierce; as, a keen appetite.
* (rfdate),
* (rfdate), Shakespeare
sharp; having a fine edge or point.
* (rfdate) :
acute of mind; sharp; penetrating; having or expressing mental acuteness.
* (rfdate),
* (rfdate),
bitter; piercing; acrimonious; cutting; stinging; severe; as, keen satire or sarcasm.
* (rfdate)
piercing; penetrating; cutting; sharp; -- applied to cold, wind, etc,; as, a keen wind; the cold is very keen.
* (rfdate),
Enthusiastic
(US, informal, dated) Marvelous.
(UK) extremely low as to be competitive.
(obsolete) brave, courageous; bold, audacious.
(rare) To sharpen; to make cold.
* (rfdate), Thomson.
To utter a keen.
* (rfdate) Stuart Howard-Jones (1904-1974), Hibernia.'' Collected in ''The New Oxford Book of English Light Verse, 1978.
To utter with a loud wailing voice or wordless cry.
*
To mourn.
*
To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; with to'', ''toward , etc.
* (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
To rest or rely, for support, comfort, etc.; with on'', ''upon'', or ''against .
* (1809-1892)
* , chapter=23
, title= To hang outwards.
To press against.
* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
(of a person or animal) slim; not fleshy.
(of meat) having little fat.
Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.
Of a fuel-air mixture, having more air than is necessary to burn all of the fuel; more air- or oxygen- rich than necessary for a stoichiometric reaction.
(printing, archaic) Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.
To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.
* {{quote-magazine
, year=1938
, month=July
, author=Blaine and Dupont Miller
, title=Weather Hop
, page=25
, magazine=Boy's Life
, publisher=Boy Scouts of America
, issn=0006-8608
* {{quote-magazine
, year=2002
, month=July
, author=Tom Benenson
, title=Can Your Engine Run Too Lean?
, volume=129
, issue=7
, page=73
, magazine=Flying
, issn=0015-4806
As adjectives the difference between keen and lean
is that keen is showing a quick and ardent willingness or responsiveness, enthusiastic, eager; interested, intense while lean is slim; not fleshy.As verbs the difference between keen and lean
is that keen is to sharpen; to make cold while lean is to incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.As a noun keen
is a prolonged wail for a deceased person.keen
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) . More at (l), (l).Alternative forms
* keene, kene (archaic)Adjective
(er)- Of full keen will.
- So keen and greedy to confound a man.
- That my keen knife see not the wound it makes.
- To make our wits more keen .
- Before the keen inquiry of her thought.
- Good father cardinal, cry thou amen to my keen curses.
- Breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes.
- I'm keen to learn another language.
- I'm keen on learning another language.
- I'm keen on languages.
- I'm keen about learning languages.
- I'm keen for help.
- ''"Do you want to learn another language?" / "I'm keen ."
- I just got this peachy keen new dress.
- keen prices
Usage notes
* Keen is often used in the composition of words, most of which are of obvious signification; as, keen-edged, keen-eyed, keen-sighted, keen-witted, etc.Synonyms
* prompt; eager; ardent; sharp; acute; cutting; penetrating; biting; severe; sarcastic; satirical; piercing; shrewd. * See alsoDerived terms
* keen-witted * keen as mustard * keen on * keenly * keennessVerb
(en verb)- Cold winter keens the brightening flood.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- Keen —meaning 'brisk'? Nay, here the Language warps:
'Tis singing bawdy Ballads to a Corpse.
Anagrams
* ----lean
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) ; via Proto-Indo-European with climate, cline.Verb
- They delight rather to lean to their old customs.
- He leaned not on his fathers but himself.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.}}
- His fainting limbs against an oak he leant .
Derived terms
* lean back * leaning * lean on * lean-toEtymology 2
From (etyl) .Adjective
(er)- a lean''' budget; a '''lean harvest
- lean copy, matter, or type
Synonyms
* See alsoVerb
(en verb)citation, passage=He leaned the mixture in an effort to cause a backfire through the carburetor, the generally accepted method of breaking the ice loose. }}
citation, passage=Even the Pilot's Operating Handbooks (POH) for our training airplanes add to our paranoia with their insistence that we not lean the mixture until we're above 5000 feet density altitude. }}
