Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Glean \Glean\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Gleaned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Gleaning}.] [OE. glenen, OF. glener, glaner, F. glaner, fr.
   LL. glenare; cf. W. glan clean, glanh?u to clean, purify, or
   AS. gelm, gilm, a hand?ul.]
   1. To gather after a reaper; to collect in scattered or
      fragmentary parcels, as the grain left by a reaper, or
      grapes left after the gathering.

            To glean the broken ears after the man That the main
            harvest reaps.                        --Shak.

   2. To gather from (a field or vineyard) what is left.

   3. To collect with patient and minute labor; to pick out; to
      obtain.

            Content to glean what we can from . . . experiments.
                                                  --Locke.

Glean \Glean\, v. i.
   1. To gather stalks or ears of grain left by reapers.

            And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field
            after the reapers.                    --Ruth ii. 3.

   2. To pick up or gather anything by degrees.

            Piecemeal they this acre first, then that; Glean on,
            and gather up the whole estate.       --Pope.

Glean \Glean\, n.
   A collection made by gleaning.

         The gleans of yellow thyme distend his thighs.
                                                  --Dryden.

Glean \Glean\, n.
   Cleaning; afterbirth. [Obs.] --Holland.

Source : WordNet®

glean
     v : gather, as of natural products; "harvest the grapes" [syn: {reap},
          {harvest}]