wean
Americanverb (used with object)
-
weans,
present (3rd person singular)
-
weaned,
past participle, past
-
weaning
present participle
-
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.
-
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
verb
-
to cause (a child or young mammal) to replace mother's milk by other nourishment
-
(usually foll by from) to cause to desert former habits, pursuits, etc
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
weansimple
-
weanssimple
-
have weanedperfect
-
has weanedperfect
-
am weaningprogressive
-
are weaningprogressive
-
is weaningprogressive
-
have been weaningperfect progressive
-
has been weaningperfect progressive
Past
-
weanedsimple
-
had weanedperfect
-
was weaningprogressive
-
were weaningprogressive
-
had been weaningperfect progressive
Future
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”
Explanation
To wean yourself from something is to gradually eliminate that thing from your life. You may want to wean yourself from watching too much TV, drinking two pots of coffee every morning, or obsessively reading the celebrity columns. To wean an infant — human or animal — you gradually reduce consumption of mother’s milk or bottled milk until the little one is no longer nursing or bottle-feeding. If you want to wean yourself from eating chocolate chip cookies, go from eating eight a day to only seven for the next few days, then to six for a few days and so on until you're no longer eating any chocolate chip cookies.
Vocabulary lists containing wean
100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Walk Two Moons
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Omnivore's Dilemma
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
The plan also seeks to wean Turkey off its heavy dependence on energy imports.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
As Washington seeks to wean itself off Chinese technology, U.S. defense startups like Anduril have attracted billions of dollars to build systems on home soil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Bass talked about her efforts to wean L.A. city completely off of coal-generated power, which it achieved in December 2025, and turning the switch on for one of the largest solar projects in the nation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
"People assume that it will always be readily available. And we need to wean ourselves off that kind of idea that water will always be there."
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
The poor woman figured and figured on a way to wean Gussie.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
As Europe weans itself off Russian energy, Washington is fast emerging as its largest gas supplier, with experts suggesting Croatia's Adriatic gas terminal offers a pathway deeper into the continent.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Jen's job was set up to help what young people themselves call the "Covid weans" - youngsters who started the pandemic as children and emerged as teenagers.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2022
Over the next several decades, however, the energy pull on the grid will increase significantly, as will demand from other electric sources as the country weans itself off of fossil fuels.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 19, 2022
The risk is that, while China weans itself of credit-driven investment in infrastructure and state-dominated industries, private consumption will not expand quickly enough to pick up the slack.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2015
The Lady said she’d raised six weans of her own and five o’ them lads, eight o’ someone else’s lads wouldn’t be much different.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
She definitely wasn’t, but I could see why she was concerned: Generations of young people have been weaned on visions of summer as a catalyst for transformation.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
"I think that it's time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support," he told CBS News's 60 Minutes.
From Barron's ● May 16, 2026
Three decades after they became Britain's biggest bands, interest in both is still huge - among their original fans and a new generation who were weaned on their songs.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
As January drew to a close, I weaned myself off the motivational videos.
From Slate ● Feb. 15, 2026
I weaned him off me by spending half an hour at a time out of his presence, then an afternoon, and finally days away once he was comfortable with his new friends.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
More startling is their failure to discuss commercial baby foods, on which nearly all of America’s new parents depend for navigating the weaning process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
In two-week-old mice, before weaning, dendritic spines were spread relatively evenly across the neuron.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 16, 2026
"It's a great step forward in helping children with the weaning process, with feeding and healthy eating," she said.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2025
In the longer term, the deal won’t do anything to stop China’s strategic goal of weaning itself off U.S. soybeans, Suderman said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025
I didn’t exactly know what still weaning someone off a respirator meant.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
