Glean

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /É¡liːn/
• Rhymes: -iːn

From Middle English glenen, from Anglo-Norman glener, from Late Latin glen(n)ō ("make a collection"), from Gaulish.

Full definition of glean

Verb

1. To collect (grain, grapes, etc.) left behind after the main harvest or gathering.
• Authorized Version, Ruth 2:2,Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace.
• ShakespeareTo glean the broken ears after the man
  That the main harvest reaps.
2. To gather what is left in (a field or vineyard).to glean a field
3. To gather information in small amounts, with implied difficulty, bit by bit.
• John Lockecontent to glean what we can from ... experiments
• 8 December 2011, BBC News, Iran shows film of captured US drone, available in http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16098562 :He said Iran was "well aware of what priceless technological information" could be gleaned from the aircraft.
4. To frugally accumulate resources from low-yield contexts.He gleaned a living from newspaper work for a few months, but in the summer went to a fishing village … where … he wrote his great historical drama, "Master Olof." (Translators Edith and Warner Oland on author August Strindberg.)

Synonyms

• (gather information) learn

Noun

1. A collection made by gleaning.
• DrydenThe gleans of yellow thyme distend his thighs.

Noun