wean

American  

[ween] / win /

verb (used with object)

1. 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.

2. to withdraw (a person, the affections, one's dependency, etc.) from some object, habit, form of enjoyment, or the like.

   The need to reduce had weaned us from rich desserts.

---

verb phrase

1. wean on to accustom to; to familiarize with from, or as if from, childhood.

   a brilliant student weaned on the classics;

   suburban kids weaned on rock music.

wean ¹ British  

/ wiːn /

verb

1. to cause (a child or young mammal) to replace mother's milk by other nourishment

2. (usually foll by from) to cause to desert former habits, pursuits, etc

---

wean ² British  

/ weɪn, wiːn /

noun

1. dialect a child; infant

---

Other Word Forms

• postweaning adjective
• preweaning adjective
• unweaned adjective
• weanedness noun
• weaning noun

Etymology

Origin of wean

First recorded before 1000; Middle English wenen, Old English wenian; cognate with Dutch wennen, German gewöhnen, Old Norse venja “to accustom”

Example Sentences

Bertie's parents hope to wean him off his drip and on to solid food within the next year.

From BBC

"If females have the opportunity to pick up another cub and care for it and successfully wean it, it's a good thing for bears in Churchill."

From BBC

Sadmir and his board game companions are just some of the 300 patients at the gaming disorder clinic, Australia's only publicly-run institution of its type, helping patients wean themselves off excessive online gaming habits.

From BBC

The EU moved to wean itself off Russian oil in 2022 but granted exemptions to the two landlocked countries.

From Barron's

In a report, the coroner raised concerns about paediatric first aid training and staff education over weaning.

From BBC

Related Words

• discourage