(of a person or animal) Slim; not fleshy.
(of meat) Having little fat.
lean steak cuts
Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.
a lean budget
Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.
A lean ore hardly worth mining.
Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.
lean copy, matter, or type
Efficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean manufacturing"
Alcoa is now a lean and agile enterprise, after having split last year into two entities.
One who leans, or inclines toward something.