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weaning

   Also found in: Medical, Legal 0.03 sec.
wean  (wn)
tr.v. weaned, wean·ing, weans
1. To accustom (the young of a mammal) to take nourishment other than by suckling.
2. To detach from that to which one is strongly habituated or devoted: She weaned herself from cigarettes.
3. To accustom to something from an early age. Often used with on: "The northerners among the refugees ... were weaned on harsh weather and infertile soils and are known for their rigorous work ethic" (Lowell Weiss).

[Middle English wenen, from Old English wenian; see wen-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: In recent years weaned on has come to be widely used in the sense "raised on," as in Moviegoers weaned on the Star Trek TV series will doubtless find the film to their liking. A few critics have objected to this usage on the grounds that wean refers literally to a detachment from a source of nourishment. But the process of weaning involves a substitution of some other form of nourishment for mother's milk; thus it is sometimes said that a child is weaned onto or on sugar water. Hence a sentence like Paul was weaned on folk music may suggest metaphorically that Paul's exposure to folk music began from the time he stopped nursing, that is, from a very early age.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.weaning - the act of substituting other food for the mother's milk in the diet of a child or young mammalweaning - the act of substituting other food for the mother's milk in the diet of a child or young mammal
substitution, commutation, exchange - the act of putting one thing or person in the place of another: "he sent Smith in for Jones but the substitution came too late to help"
Translations
weaning [ˈwiːnɪŋ] Ndestete m, ablactación f
weaning [ˈwiːnɪŋ] nsevrage m
weaning
n (of baby)Entwöhnung f


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Alec had found out this little secret, and, after reproaching himself for being blind and selfish, was trying to devise some way of mending matters without troubling anyone, when Rose's new whim suggested an excellent method of weaning her a little from himself.
Perhaps Margaret grew too old for metaphysics, perhaps Henry was weaning her from them, but she felt that there was something a little unbalanced in the mind that so readily shreds the visible.
Pestler (now a most flourishing lady's physician, with a sumptuous dark green carriage, a prospect of speedy knighthood, and a house in Manchester Square) that her grief at weaning the child was a sight that would have unmanned a Herod.
 
 
 
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