wean

verb

ˈwēn

weaned; weaning; weans

transitive verb

: to accustom (a young child or animal) to take food otherwise than by nursing

: to detach from a source of dependence

being weaned off the medication

wean the bears from human food—

Sports Illus.

also : to free from a usually unwholesome habit or interest

wean him off his excessive drinking

settling his soldiers on the land … , weaning them from habits of violence —

Geoffrey Carnall

: to accustom to something from an early age

—used in the passive especially with on

students weaned on the Internet for researchI was weaned on greasepaint—

Helen Hayesthe principles upon which he had been weaned—

J. A. Michener

Example Sentences

The calves are weaned at an early age.

Recent Examples on the Web There’s no magic formula for how long to be on both; try weaning off after a week. —

Erica Sweeney, Men's Health, 23 Feb. 2023 World markets are still buying Russian energy, even if Western European countries are weaning themselves from it. —

Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2023 The United States is investing in mining operations abroad to wean off its dependence on fossil fuels but harbors concerns about trading with an abusive government. —

Zoe Dutton / Nexus Media, Popular Science, 23 Jan. 2023 The West is choking Russia with sanctions and vowing to wean itself from its oil and gas. —

Ken Silverstein, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2022 The video amassed over two million views, but from critics who felt that Emma had waited too long to wean her son from breastfeeding rather than moms who related to the experience. —

Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 28 Oct. 2022 The new dose controlled his blood glucose well, and so our new goal was to wean him fully off of insulin. —

Ricardo Nuila, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2023 More transmission lines such as this one will almost certainly be needed to wean the West off of fossil fuels. —

Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2023 As the West, and Europe in particular, tried both to sanction Russian fuel and to wean themselves off Russian oil and gas, Moscow found other big buyers: China and India. —

Quartz, 24 Feb. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wean.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.