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GRE vocabulary

glean

verbHigh-frequency wordMore G words

to gather information or material bit by bit

Word origin: From Old French glener, to gather grain left by reapers.

In a sentence

Glean in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing glean in a sentence.

From scattered letters and ledgers, historians gleaned a picture of daily life in the village.

From scattered shipping records, the historian gleaned a detailed picture of the colony's diet.

Synonyms
collectextractharvestcull
Antonyms
scatterdisperse
Usage & nuance

Using “glean” well

Glean means to gather information or material slowly and in small amounts. Its connotation, drawn from collecting leftover grain after a harvest, is of patient, piecemeal accumulation.

Common questions

Questions about “glean

Glean (verb) means to gather information or material bit by bit
Here is glean used in an example sentence: "From scattered letters and ledgers, historians gleaned a picture of daily life in the village." Another example: "From scattered shipping records, the historian gleaned a detailed picture of the colony's diet."
Common synonyms for glean include collect, extract, harvest, cull.
Antonyms of glean include scatter, disperse.
Clusters with collect, extract, and cull, opposed by scatter and disperse. The GRE emphasizes the bit-by-bit gathering, so expect it with objects like information or insight.
Yes. Glean is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

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