Merriam-Webster's Word Central

October 05, 2009

glean (verb): \GLEEN\
What does it mean?: 1 : to gather from a field or vineyard what has been left (as by reapers)2 : to gather little by little
How do you use it?: Richard moved from platter to platter, gleaning leftovers from his parents' holiday party.
Are you a word wiz?: Let's see if you have gleaned enough information about the meaning of "glean" from today's Buzzword to recognize a sentence that uses the word properly. Which of these sentences uses "glean" correctly?

A. My mother is always telling me to glean my room.

B. The warrior held aloft the gleaning sword.

C. In the fall, my father and I like to glean nuts from the hazel bushes.

D. We handed out candy on Halloween, gleaning it to the trick-or-treaters.

You've gleaned some real knowledge about "glean" from today's Buzzword if you chose C as the correct answer. Answers A and B confuse "glean" with other similar-sounding words ("clean" and "gleaming," to be exact), and Answer D uses "glean" as if it meant "to give out little by little," instead of with its standard meaning, "to gather little by little." By the way, "glean" is probably related to an Old Irish word "doglenn," which means "he selects," but English picked it up from the form of French spoken during the Middle Ages.

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