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
  • Not the kind of empathy that simply allows someone to understand another person’s struggles, but the kind that compels them to do something about it.
    — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Here, Hendrikx plays anthropologist to a culture that compels each of us—whether a rider or not—to find our own vehicle for fulfillment, then take it to redline.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of compels
Verb
  • Panthers receiver Cataurus Hicks comes down with it and muscles his way forward in an attempt to get into the end zone.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 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
  • This question forces founders out of product-speak and into real-world consequences.
    — Olivia Ludington, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026
  • An unexpected turn of events forces him to choose between those ambitions and temptation that could change his future.
    — Essie Assibu, Variety, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of forces
Verb
  • Fundamentally, this problem stems from science’s publish-or-perish culture, which pressures academics to constantly publish papers in prestigious journals to secure funding and advance their careers.
    — Benjamin Skuse, IEEE Spectrum, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The majority of his night was spent scrambling from a Seahawks defense that pressures the quarterback at the third-highest rate in the league.
    — Sam McDowell October 25, Kansas City Star, 26 Oct. 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 5 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of effrontery

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All