to move your body away from a vertical position so that it is bent forward or resting against something, or to place something in a sloping position against something:

(of a person) thin and in good physical condition:

When you describe meat as lean, you mean that it does not have much fat in it:

A lean period is a time during which there is not enough of something, esp. money or food:

When you say that a company or business is lean, you mean that it has the fewest employees it needs to do its work.

MANAGEMENT using fewer employees or less money in order to decrease waste, while continuing to operate effectively:

if a period of time is lean, there is not enough money or business at that time:

if costs, goods for sale, materials, or quantities of workers are lean, they are very low, or kept as low as possible: