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glean

/ɡliːn/verb

To gather information slowly, piece by piece, from different sources.

Example sentences

  • “Detectives gleaned useful details from interviews with the neighbors.”
  • “I gleaned most of my cooking skills from watching my grandmother.”

Originally meant picking up leftover grain after harvest, which explains the bit-by-bit flavor. You glean insights, details, and clues, never large obvious facts.

Featured as word of the day on July 18, 2026.

Synonyms for glean

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