Meaning & use

glean

verb·Academic

To gradually gather information or knowledge, often bit by bit, from various sources.

See it in a sentence

From the old letters, historians gleaned new details about the family's journey west.

She gleaned a few useful tips from the interview before making her decision.

A note on using this word

Glean originally referred to collecting leftover grain after a harvest, and now mostly describes piecing together information.

Words with a similar meaning

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