wean

/wi:n/

Thân thiện

The mother began to wean her baby by offering a bottle of milk.

Definition

1. Verb:
   • To gradually deprive (an infant or young mammal) of mother's milk and accustom to other nourishment: This is the primary meaning, referring to the process of transitioning a baby or young animal from breastfeeding or nursing to eating solid food or drinking from a bottle.
   • To detach the affections of; to make someone abandon a habit, desire, or attachment: This figurative meaning describes the process of making someone gradually stop depending on or wanting something they are accustomed to.

Usage Examples

• Verb (Literal - Deprive of mother's milk):

  • Most pediatricians recommend weaning a baby onto solid foods around six months of age.
  • The farmer weaned the calves from their mothers last week.

• Verb (Figurative - Detach from a habit or dependency):

  • It took years to wean the economy off its dependence on fossil fuels.
  • He tried to wean himself from his addiction to social media.

Advanced Usage

• "to wean someone/something off/from something": This is the most common phrasal construction, emphasizing the gradual removal from a source of dependency.
  • The program aims to wean addicts off drugs.
  • The new policy is designed to wean the industry from government subsidies.

Variants and Related Words

• Weaning (noun): The process or period during which a child or young animal is weaned.
  • The weaning process can be challenging for both mother and baby.

Synonyms

• Accustom (to something new).
• Detach.
• Withdraw (gradually).

Related Phrasal Verbs / Constructions

• Wean off: To cause to gradually stop using or depending on something.
  • She is weaning her child off the pacifier.
• Wean onto: To gradually introduce and accustom to a new form of nourishment.
  • The kittens were weaned onto wet food.

Related Idioms

• To wean away from: Similar to "wean off," often used for abstract dependencies like bad influences or ideas.
  • The mentor sought to wean the young artist away from destructive habits.

Học thuật

Verb

1. detach the affections of
2. 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

Từ đồng nghĩa

• ablactate