lean in

verb

leaned in; leaning in; leans in

intransitive verb

: to persevere in spite of risk or difficulty
Then there's the racial justice crisis and making sure that we are leaning in during this time of recovery and crisis into the very important conversations around diversity and inclusion.Laura Fuentes, quoted in Washington (D.C.) Business Journal
Attending college began as a time of "leaning in," because it took courage to attend a large campus without much parental support and no friends attending with me.Sue Nokes

Examples of lean in in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Developer Day signaled just how aggressively OpenAI is leaning in. Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025 Emeka Egbuka has Rookie of the Year just about sewn up already, but *looks around nervously* could … *leans in close to whisper* … could Baker Mayfield be a serious MVP candidate? J.j. Bailey, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025 Maggie also smiles tolerantly when Hank keeps his hand on her knee for a few beats too many, or leans in close during chats. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Oct. 2025 From fashion runways to movie reboots, throwbacks are everywhere, and Diet Coke is leaning in with style. Moná Thomas, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lean in

Word History

First Known Use

2001, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lean in was in 2001

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Cite this Entry

“Lean in.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lean%20in. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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