Word.ws English Dictionary

lean in

lean in verb: to shift one's weight forward; to lean forward or towards something.

Verb

lean in (third-person singular simple present leans in, present participle leaning in, simple past and past participle leaned in or leant in)

  1. To shift one's weight forward; to lean forward or towards something.
  2. (figuratively) To proactively take charge of a situation; to be bold in exerting one's will in a situation.
    • We need to find a way for women to not drop out, but to lean in to their careers and give them the flexibility they need to stay in the workforce.2011, Sheryl Sandberg, Forrestal Lecture at the United States Naval Academy.
  3. (figuratively) To continue or strengthen a reaction in the face of criticism or disappointment; to redouble efforts despite setbacks and uncertainty from others.

Forms of lean in

third-person singular presentleans in
present participleleaning in
past participleleaned in
pastleaned in
past participleleant in
pastleant in

Questions about lean in

What does lean in mean?
Lean in means to shift one's weight forward; to lean forward or towards something.
What part of speech is lean in?
Lean in is a verb.
What is the past tense of lean in?
The past tense of lean in is leaned in.

Words near lean in in the dictionary

  1. lean and mean
  2. lean burn
  3. lean client
  4. lean clients
  5. lean finely textured beef
  6. lean in
  7. lean into
  8. lean manufacturing
  9. lean nitrogen oxide trap
  10. lean nitrogen oxide traps
  11. lean on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lean in (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “lean in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lean_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.