wean
verb (used with object)
to accustom (a child or young animal) to food other than mother's milk; cause to lose the need to suckle or turn to the mother for food.
had weaned
-
past perfectof wean.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He extolled Germany’s opening of natural gas terminals and expanded purchases of gas from Norway as proof that it had weaned itself off Russian gas.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2023
Within eight months of joining the writing group, Kennedy had weaned herself off antidepressants.
From New York Times ● Oct. 31, 2022
We had weaned our oldest, an almost-6-year-old, back when she was a year old.
From Slate ● Nov. 29, 2020
“I was visited by the hammer-stroke certainty,” he says, “that the culture I counted myself a part of, the culture that had weaned and reared me, had become proudly, willfully, and completely divorced from fact.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 27, 2017
Probably man was, too—at one time; at a time when he stood nearer to Nature, and before his inventions and manifold accessories had weaned him from so much that was inherent and inborn knowledge.
From Lola or, The Thought and Speech of Animals by Agnes Blake
