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glean

Pronunciation: /ɡliːn/

The English word “glean” has 11 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To collect (fruit, grain, or other produce) from a field, an orchard, etc., after the main gathering or harvest.
  2. To gather (something, now chiefly something intangible such as experience or information) in small amounts over a period of time, often with some difficulty; to scrape together.
  3. To take away (someone's) possessions; to strip (someone) bare.
  4. Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking (prey, mainly arthropods such as insects) from various places.
  5. To collect or gather (things) into one mass.
  6. To cut off (straggling soldiers separated from their units) during a conflict; to isolate.
  7. To collect fruit, grain, or other produce after the main gathering or harvest.
  8. Of an animal, especially a bat or a bird: to feed by picking up or plucking prey, mainly arthropods such as insects, from various places.
  9. Of an animal, especially a cow or sheep: to deliver its afterbirth or placenta.

noun

  1. A collection of something made by gleaning.
  2. The afterbirth or placenta of an animal, especially a cow or sheep.

Etymology

The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the present active infinitive of glen(n)ō (“to make a collection”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *glanos…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.