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

Allegedly, Buckingham Palace leaned on the press to downplay the severity of the king’s illness last year, which paints a picture of a monarch who’s much sicker than people want to believe. —Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 3 June 2026

Last week, Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly said the team was optimistic Miller would play this season, and the club would continue to lean on medical staff to guide that decision. —Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 3 June 2026

Letizia has also been leaning on low, stable heels for official daytime dressing. —Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 3 June 2026

For this change, Morgan Stanley is leaning on something called the Model Context Protocol, an open-source standard that allows AI models to plug into data sources. —Hugh Son, CNBC, 3 June 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