Past tense of lean
regular verb
The past tense of lean is leaned or leant. The past participle is also leaned or leant.
Forms of lean
| Base form (V1) | lean /ˈliːn/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | leaned /liːnd/ leant /ˈlɛnt/ |
| Past participle (V3) | leaned /liːnd/ leant /ˈlɛnt/ |
| Present participle | leaning /ˈliːnɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | leans /liːnz/ |
Past tense of lean by meaning
- to incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus...: leaned or leant
- to thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there...: leaned
Leaned and leant in a sentence
- She leaned out of the window.
- He leaned the mixture in an effort to cause a backfire through the carburetor, the generally accepted method of breaking the ice loose.1938 July, Harold Blaine Miller, Dupont Miller, “Weather Hop”, in Boys' Life, Boy Scouts of America, →ISSN, page 25
- While reading her book, Sally leaned back against her husband, wishing it were the human kind.From the entry husband
- He didn't make a donation until some of his customers leaned on him.From the entry lean on
- He leaned across for a book.From the entry across
Meaning of lean
- verb To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
- verb To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
- verb To rest or rely, for support, comfort, to use as a hard surface for writing, etc.
Questions about the past tense of lean
- What is the past tense of lean?
- The past tense of lean is leaned or leant.
- What is the past participle of lean?
- The past participle of lean is leaned or leant.
- Is lean a regular or irregular verb?
- Lean is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lean (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of lean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/lean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.