glean
A collection of something made by gleaningA collection of something made by gleaning.
» He has gleaned knowledge from various books.
Meaning
2 senses(dialectal)A collection of something made by gleaning.
(obsolete)The afterbirth or placenta of an animal, especially a cow or sheep.
Examples
9 sentencesHe has gleaned knowledge from various books.
What can you glean from his search history?
The lion doesn't glean ants.
More can often be gleaned from body language than from what is actually being said.
The willow has leaned towards the basin to glean a drop of water but found nothing there.
Origin
The verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reThe verb is derived from Late Middle English glenen (“to gather (heads of grain left by reapers), glean; to gather (things) together, collect”), from Old French glener, glainer (modern French glaner (“to gather, glean”)), from Late Latin glen(n)are, the present active infinitive of glen(n)ō (“to make a collection”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *glanos (“clean; clear”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰleh₁- (“to glow, shine; to be glowing or shining”).
Possibly a variant of clean (“(UK, dialectal; noun) the afterbirth of a cow or sheep; (verb) of a cow or sheep: to bring forth the afterbirth”), possibly from clean (“to remove dirt from an object or place”), referring to an animal’s uterus being cleaned out by the delivery of the afterbirth.
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