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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Weaning

Wean \Wean\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Weaned; p. pr. & vb. n. Weaning.] [OE. wenen, AS. wenian, wennan, to accustom; akin to D. wennen, G. gew["o]hnen, OHG. giwennan, Icel. venja, Sw. v["a]nja, Dan. v[ae]nne, Icel. vanr accustomed, wont; cf. AS.

  1. To accustom and reconcile, as a child or other young animal, to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder; to cause to cease to depend on the mother nourishment.

    And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
    --Gen. xxi. 8.

  2. Hence, to detach or alienate the affections of, from any object of desire; to reconcile to the want or loss of anything. ``Wean them from themselves.''
    --Shak.

    The troubles of age were intended . . . to wean us gradually from our fondness of life.
    --Swift.

Wiktionary
weaning

n. The (passive) process of a child or animal ceasing to be dependant on the mother for nourishment. vb. (present participle of wean English)

WordNet
weaning

n. the act of substituting other food for the mother's milk in the diet of a child or young mammal [syn: ablactation]

Wikipedia
Weaning

Weaning is the process of gradually introducing a mammal infant to what will be its adult diet and withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk.

The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infant is considered to be fully weaned once it is no longer fed any breast milk (or bottled substitute).

Usage examples of "weaning".

As a result, our children have to have food brought to them for at least a decade after weaning, and that job is much easier for two parents than for one.

Greville, whose husband was absent at Washington, formed, as it were, a weaning time for , from the seclusion of the Illinois.

It is a strange affection, nearly always disappearing upon weaning the child, though this course is not absolutely necessary.

This course of treatment, thoroughly carried out, will seldom fail to effect a perfect cure, without weaning the child, yet this latter course may sometimes become advisable to promote the recovery of the patient.