Idiom: lean on someone/something

Meaning

Idiom: lean on someone/something

— Good friends are people you can lean on when you’re sad and lonely.

— I’m trying to be supportive but my team members are leaning on me too much and they need to be able to do some things by themselves.

— When I was a young mother with three kids, I had to lean on my relatives a lot.

— I'll miss you mom. You were always there when I needed someone to lean on.

— The director had to lean on the managers to get production back up to the right pace.

— I feel like my girlfriend is leaning on me to ether move in together or get married.

— You need to lean on the tenant if their rent is two month's past due.

— My boss hates conflict so he asked me to lean on the cleaning staff to do a better job.

— My constituents are leaning on me to vote "no" on the proposed legislation.

1. depend on someone/something

2. pressure someone to do something

Bill Withers uses this idiom in his famous song, "Lean on me." It's a great classic. Check it out.