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.
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.
A weanling; a young child. I, being but a yearling wean. Mrs. Browning.
98,828 entries. Headwords are matched first, then definition text.