Lean vs Low - What's the difference?
lean | low |
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
In a position comparatively close to the ground.
Small in height.
Situated below the normal level, or the mean elevation.
Depressed, sad.
Not high in amount or quantity.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Of a pitch, suggesting a lower frequency.
Quiet; soft; not loud.
Despicable; lacking dignity; vulgar.
Lacking health or vitality; feeble; weak.
Being near the equator.
Humble in character or status.
* Milton
* Felton
Simple in complexity or development.
Designed for the slowest speed, as in low gear .
Articulated with a wide space between the flat tongue and the palette.
(phonetics) Made, as a vowel, with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate.
(archaic) Not rich, highly seasoned, or nourishing; plain; simple.
Something that is low; a low point.
A depressed mood or situation.
(meteorology) An area of low pressure; a depression.
The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.
(card games) The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.
(slang) (usually accompanied by "the") a cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous payment or expense.
Close to the ground.
Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.
* Shakespeare
With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.
* Tennyson
Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.
In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.
* '>citation
In a time approaching our own.
* John Locke
(astronomy) In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.
.
, mound, tumulus.
(Scottish dialectal, archaic) A hill.
As a proper noun lean
is .As an adjective low is
in a position comparatively close to the ground.As a noun low is
something that is low; a low point or low can be (countable|uk|scotland|dialect) a flame; fire; blaze or low can be , mound, tumulus.As an adverb low is
close to the ground.As a verb low is
(obsolete|transitive) to depress; to lower or low can be or low can be to moo or low can be (uk|scotland|dialect) to burn; to blaze.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. }}
Etymology 3
Icelandic (leyna)?; akin to (etyl) word for "deny". Compare .See also
*References
* *low
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) lowe, lohe, . More at lie.Adjective
(er)- low spirits
- I felt low at Christmas with no family to celebrate with.
- Food prices are lower in a supermarket than in a luxury department store.
T time, passage=The ability to shift profits to low -tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.}}
- a person of low mind
- a low trick or stratagem
- a low pulse
- made low by sickness
- the low northern latitudes
- Why but to keep ye low and ignorant?
- In comparison of these divine writers, the noblest wits of the heathen world are low and dull.
- a low diet
Synonyms
* (in a position comparatively close to the ground) nether, underslung * (small in height) short, small * (depressed) blue, depressed, down, miserable, sad, unhappy, gloomy * reduced, devalued, low-level * low-pitched, deep, flat * low-toned, soft * (despicable thing to do) immoral, abject, scummy, scurvyAntonyms
* (in a position comparatively close to the ground) highDerived terms
* high and low * lowball * low blow * low bridge * low-budget * low-cost * Low Countries * low-cut * lower * lowercase * low-fat * Low German * low-grade * low island * lowland * Low Latin * low-level * low loader * lowly * low-lying * low road * low tideNoun
(en noun)- You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank.
- ''Economic growth has hit a new low .
- He is in a low right now
- Shift out of low before the car gets to eight miles per hour.
- He got the brand new Yankees jersey for the low .
Adverb
(er)- Can sing both high and low .
- to speak low
- The odorous wind / Breathes low between the sunset and the moon.
- He sold his wheat low .
- In that part of the world which was first inhabited, even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds.
- The moon runs low , i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian.
Etymology 2
From (etyl), from (etyl) . More at laugh.Verb
(head)Etymology 3
From (etyl) . More at claim.Etymology 4
From (etyl) lowe, loghe, from (etyl) . More at leye, light.Alternative forms
* loweEtymology 5
From (etyl) . Obsolete by the 19th century, survives in toponymy as -low.Alternative forms
* laweNoun
(en noun)- A barrow or Low, such as were usually cast up over the bodies of eminent Captains.'' (Robert Plot, ''The natural history of Staffordshire , 1686; cited after OED).
- And some they brought the brown lint-seed, and flung it down from the Low.'' (Mary Howitt, ''Ballads and other poems 1847)