lean on

verb

leaned on; leaning on; leans on

transitive verb

: to apply pressure to

They were leaning on the governor to pass the law.

Examples of lean on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The craziest part about their first meeting is that McGregor leaned on wrestling, landing four takedowns and piling up more than six minutes of control. — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026

Tehran has leaned on this asymmetric approach for decades, betting that a swarm of small, hard-to-detect boats can offset its lack of larger, more advanced submarines. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 11 July 2026

The launch joins other retailers in the industry that have leaned on AI to make the shopping experience more personalized. — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 10 July 2026

At the epicenter is Clay—named because of the high content of clay found in the soil on the property—where executive sous chef Kyle Chandler leans on the land’s produce to curate their creative menu. — Jess Feldman, Travel + Leisure, 10 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1960, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lean on

• anton
• argon
• axon
• baronne
• baryon
• baton
• boron
• buisson
• bygone
• capon
• cardon
• chiffon