wean
(redirected from weans)Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Idioms.
wean
(wēn)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).
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.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
wean
(wiːn)vb (tr)
1. (Physiology) to cause (a child or young mammal) to replace mother's milk by other nourishment
2. (Zoology) to cause (a child or young mammal) to replace mother's milk by other nourishment
3. (usually foll by from) to cause to desert former habits, pursuits, etc
[Old English wenian to accustom; related to German gewöhnen to get used to]
ˈweaning n
wean
(weɪn; wiːn)n
dialect Scot and Northern English a child; infant
[a contraction of wee ane or perhaps a shortened form of weanling]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
wean
(win)v.t.
1. to cause (a child or young animal) to lose the need to suckle; accustom to food other than the mother's milk.
2. to withdraw (a person, the affections, etc.) from some object or practice deemed undesirable: to wean oneself from rich desserts.
3. wean on, to accustom to or familiarize with something from, or as if from, childhood: a brilliant student weaned on the classics.
[before 1000; Middle English wenen, Old English wenian to accustom, c. Old Saxon wennian, Old High German giwennen, Old Norse venja]
wean′ed•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
wean
Past participle: weaned
Gerund: weaning
| Imperative |
|---|
| wean |
| wean |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Verb | 1. |  wean - gradually deprive (infants and young mammals) of mother's milk; "she weaned her baby when he was 3 months old and started him on powdered milk"; "The kitten was weaned and fed by its owner with a bottle"deprive - keep from having, keeping, or obtaining |
| 2. | wean - detach the affections of |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
يَفْطُم
vænne fra
venja af brjósti
やめさせる乳離れさせる
nujunkyti
atšķirt no krūtsatšķirt no mātes
odstaviť
memeden/sütten kesmek
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
wean
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
wean
(wiːn) verb to cause (a child or young animal) to become used to food other than the mother's milk. The baby has been weaned (on to solid foods).
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
wean
n. destetar, quitar el pecho de la madre.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
wean
vt destetarEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.