glean

verb

gleaned; gleaning; gleans

intransitive verb

1
: to gather grain or other produce left by reapers
2
: to gather information or material bit by bit

transitive verb

1
a
: to pick up after a reaper
b
: to strip of the leavings of reapers
glean a field
2
a
: to gather (something, such as information) bit by bit
can glean secrets from his hard drive
b
: to pick over in search of relevant material
gleaning old files for information
3
: find out
The police used old-fashioned detective work to glean his whereabouts.
gleanable adjective
gleaner noun

Did you know?

The Grainy History of Glean

Glean comes from Middle English glenen, which traces to Anglo-French glener, meaning "to glean." The French borrowed their word from Late Latin glennare, which also means "to glean" and is itself of Celtic origin. Both the grain-gathering sense and the collecting-bit-by-bit senses of English's glean date back at least to the 14th century. Over the years, and especially in the 20th and 21st centuries, glean has also come to be used frequently with the meaning "to find out, learn, ascertain." This sense has been criticized by folks who think glean should always imply the drudgery involved in the literal grain-gathering sense, but it is well established and perfectly valid.

Examples of glean in a Sentence

She gleaned her data from various studies. He has a collection of antique tools gleaned from flea markets and garage sales. They spent days gleaning the files for information. They spent hours gleaning in the wheat fields. gleaning stray ears of corn
Recent Examples on the Web Machine-learning models are further refining the information gleaned from mammograms, and some are getting sophisticated enough to predict which currently normal scans show signs of potentially turning into malignant tissue in the future. TIME, 14 Mar. 2024 For, example, hackers aware of the timing of a key computation, SMA, in the AES encryption process can glean secrets from a chip. IEEE Spectrum, 28 Feb. 2024 Tyler Loudon, 42, pleaded guilty Thursday to securities fraud for buying and selling stocks based on details gleaned from his wife's business conversations while both were working from home. CBS News, 26 Feb. 2024 Turning Weapons Into Medicines While much can be gleaned from examining the similarities and differences between humans and other species, another approach is to examine the weapons that various creatures have evolved over hundreds of millions of years to attack or paralyze their prey. Juergen Eckhardt, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024 An extra step incubated each target with T-cells gleaned from each patient’s blood. Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Mar. 2024 But the institute has stayed true to Redford’s initial vision, as a place where promising young artists can hone their craft amid the spectacular natural setting, gleaning wisdom from such regular advisers as actor Ed Harris, actress and director Joan Darling and screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury. Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 After that, look for a series of recipes gleaned from some of our top restaurants, tested and curated by Free Press food writer Susan Selasky. Detroit Free Press, 5 Mar. 2024 Although scientists can’t tell exactly what an animal has eaten from analyzing its teeth, Burg Mayer’s team was able to glean clues about the sharks’ diets and rankings as predators by comparing different forms of nitrogen, called isotopes, between the two dental sets. Sarah Sloat, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'glean.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English glenen, from Anglo-French glener, from Late Latin glennare, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish doglenn he selects

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of glean was in the 14th century

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Dictionary Entries Near glean

Cite this Entry

“Glean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glean. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

glean

verb
1
: to gather from a field or vineyard what has been left (as by reapers)
2
: to gather little by little
glean knowledge from books
gleaner noun

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