to gather (something) slowly and carefully in small pieces: to glean information from the newspapers to gather (the useful remnants of a crop) from the field after harvesting
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
glean•ing
(glē′ning),USA pronunciation n.
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025- the act of a person who gleans.
- gleanings, things found or acquired by gleaning.
- late Middle English glenynge. See glean, -ing1 1400–50
glean /glin/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- to gather or find out, usually bit by bit and with hard work:to glean information.
glean
(glēn),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
glean′a•ble, adj.
glean′er, n.
- to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
- to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers.
- to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.
v.i.
- to collect or gather anything little by little or slowly.
- to gather what is left by reapers.
- Late Latin glennāre
Celtic - Old French glener
- Middle English glenen 1350–1400
glean′er, n.
- 3.See corresponding entry in Unabridged garner, deduce, infer.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'gleaning' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):