leans (on or against)

verb

present tense third-person singular of lean (on or against)
as in bears (down)

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for leans (on or against)
  1. compels
  2. muscles
  3. forces
  4. pressures
Verb
  • Frank’s ruling keeps the proposal to raise the homestead exemption up to $250,000 for Florida property owners on the ballot, but compels Attorney General James Uthmeier to rewrite parts of the plan.
    — Romy Ellenbogen Herald, Miami Herald, 4 Aug. 2026
  • The competitive pressure to achieve maximal adoption compels a convergence toward openness.
    — Gerui Wang, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of compels
Verb
  • Which muscles the farmer’s walk targets The move works nearly the entire body, but leg muscles, the core and shoulder muscles carry most of the load.
    — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026
  • One year later, the XFL muscles its way onto the national sports scene with its first two games.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
Definition of muscles
Verb
  • Iranian officials dismiss the campaign as familiar punishment, while analysts warn decades of sanctions show pressure alone rarely forces Tehran to yield and may instead harden positions on all sides.
    — Farnoush Amiri, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Investors Make Your Financials Non-Negotiable Nothing forces financial discipline like a quarterly investor update.
    — Lien De Pau, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of forces
Verb
  • The scrutiny raised questions about what could happen to his Carvana position if fallout from the investigation pressures him to raise cash.
    — Yun Li, CNBC, 19 Aug. 2026
  • When The Park pressures him to turn against Lamb and his colleagues to pin MI5’s failure on Slough House, Struan ultimately caves.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of pressures
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

leans
leans (on or against)
leans (toward or towards)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Leans (on or against).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leans%20%28on%20or%20against%29. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of august

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All