wean
Americanverb (used with object)
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weans,
present (3rd person singular)
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weaned,
past participle, past
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weaning
present participle
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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
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to cause (a child or young mammal) to replace mother's milk by other nourishment
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(usually foll by from) to cause to desert former habits, pursuits, etc
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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weansimple
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weanssimple
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have weanedperfect
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has weanedperfect
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am weaningprogressive
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are weaningprogressive
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is weaningprogressive
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have been weaningperfect progressive
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has been weaningperfect progressive
Past
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weanedsimple
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had weanedperfect
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was weaningprogressive
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were weaningprogressive
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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.
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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:
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
Meanwhile, some organizations that rely heavily on diesel are looking to wean themselves off reliance on the fuel to prevent future price fluctuations from having a major impact.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
OpenAI made the io acquisition—revealing its intention to wean consumers off smartphone screens—a year after announcing a partnership with Apple to integrate ChatGPT into some parts of the iPhone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Still, Chelsea are attempting to wean themselves off chaos and into the stability seen at Arsenal or previously at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
Arthur had managed to wean Sir Aglovale from his revenge, it is true, and the old feud seemed to have healed over.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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
Customs delays, tariff uncertainty and soaring global demand have hiked solar costs and delayed projects as the U.S. weans itself off Chinese dependence.
From Reuters ● Mar. 3, 2023
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 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
In response to the assessment by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the UN warned that until humanity weaned off fossil fuels, the planet would only push deeper into uncharted territory.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Born into a nominally liberated time for women, our Gen X girlhood was a specific kind of confusing: Yes, we were weaned on “Free to Be You and Me.”
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 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
In this new shack my brother, George, was weaned.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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
Since his death, Oli's parents have been campaigning for better safety measures around weaning babies onto solid food and emergency first aid provision for nurseries.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 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
“No news. They're still weaning Nikki off the respirator.”
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
