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Use wean in a sentence

Definition of wean:

  • (verb) gradually deprive (infants and young mammals) of mother's milk;
  • (verb) detach the affections of

Sentence Examples:

My business is to refrain my soul, and keep it low, even as a weaned child, and not to meddle with matters too high for me.

Some writers, following the laws of nature, as they interpreted them, fixed the period of weaning at fifteen months, when the infant has got its eight incisors and four canine teeth.

I have dwelt the longer, in this section, on the general principles of diet, because I am of opinion that whatever is true, on this subject, in regard to the diet of children, soon after weaning, is equally, or nearly equally applicable to the whole of childhood, youth, manhood and age.

Little by little, phrases like this sank into Stephen's mind, and gradually crystallized into a firm conviction that Mercy was being weaned from him.

Similarly, in order that the puppy, after weaning, may develop plenty of bone and muscle, it is advisable to feed once a day upon finely minced raw meat.

Persons who own plantations and yet live in cities, often take children from their parents as soon as they are weaned, and send them into the country; because they do not want the time of the mother taken up by attendance upon her own children, it being too valuable to the mistress.

I afterwards found out that he was stolen before he was foaled, like many another plum, and his dam killed as soon as she had weaned him.

And his admiration even weaned itself from those volumes which had certainly contributed to sharpen his mind, making it so suspicious and subtle.

It would sometimes seem as if motherhood were a lovely artifice of the great Father, to wean the heart from selfishness by a peaceful and gradual process.

He had already weaned Wilhelmina from the political bias, imbibed from her father and his connections, without acquainting her with his belonging to the opposite party, for the present.

It was easy to see that he had long been weaned from the sympathy of men, and that the whole tenderness of his soul, which had been repulsed by them, was now transferred to dumb animals.

We had not yet tired of them and their hoofs and their slanting eyes and their way of coming suddenly out of woods to wean quiet English villages from respectability.

They are said to be alike insensible to heat or cold, so entirely are their hearts weaned from the indulgence of earthly comforts.

Animal mothers forget and ignore their progeny as soon as they are weaned; and animal fathers will, in many cases, kill them as soon as they are born, if they get a chance to do so.

His discourse in reconciling Claudio to the quick approach of death condenses the marrow of all that philosophy and divinity can urge, to wean us mortals from the "many deceiving promises of life."

When a child is weaned it may be given, in connection with the milk diet, some such nourishment as broth, gruel, egg, or some prepared food.

And the dreamy melancholy which resulted from his ill-starred love, yet more tended to wean him from the stale and hackneyed pursuits of the world.

The Moral is instructive; because to judge well and candidly, we must wean our selves from a slavish Bigotry to the Ancients.

That made the time of weaning somewhat longer than it should have been, but I compromised with my conscience by reducing still further my meager expenses.

"It was no easy matter to wean the people of the fallacious idea that a proletariat could manage the finances of the country."

No doubt it was necessary that the scientist should become hardened and weaned from all misleading expectation, and shy of all the spurious claims of sordid superstition and of childish fancy.

I prayed that the many evils I felt within might be done away, and that I might be weaned from my former carnal acquaintances.

They seldom do so during the first month; after that time under favorable circumstances the gain is usually quite as regular, and during the latter half of the first year it is likely to be more continuous than in a nursing infant, because the latter usually loses weight at the time of weaning.

Should its inhabitants be encouraged to maintain their connections with us, or is it better for them to "accept the situation" and gradually wean themselves from us and from our affairs?

Still another man whom I tried did well for five weeks, and then broke out in a most profound spree, from which he could not be weaned.

This is a foretaste of the modern sentiment that seeks to wean him from watching football matches and take to miniature rifle clubs.

They had lived happily together in spite of their respective opinions; but either through the influence of his wife, or through other causes less well understood, Sir Richard the elder in his later life became gradually weaned from the old faith, and embraced that of his wife.

The priest in him yearned over her to wean her from her sin, but the patient wisdom in him told him that not that way had she yet come.

When the pigs are weaned they are placed with the herd, a safe practice because of the general contentment and quietness and the entire absence of meal-time stampedes.

When the flock is weaned and well feathered, the regular laying mash may be substituted for the growing mash, though the latter may well be continued for a much longer period.

I soon saw a wonderful change in his health and vigor, though I experienced no little trouble from my efforts to wean him from the rocking of the cradle to which he was accustomed.

Every tenderness that could reconcile, every enjoyment that could wean, was vainly essayed; mourning for her Orpheus, she would not be comforted.

They begin to tell you when you're getting weaned away from a lobster palate and a stuffed-crab stomach, and when you get to the point where you want 'em on your regular bill of fare you'll find more fun in chopping down a tree than in going to a grand opera.

A partial cork should be worn for a few days first for testing and "weaning" a child away from the easier breathing through the neck.

He came to wrest man from the slavery of the new gigantic body he had begotten, to wean him from lust of power, to pacify and humble him.

Thus, by rupture and loss we become weaned from earth, and the dissatisfaction and discontent which sorrow thus induces are as kind and providential as the carelessness of youth.

It would be better to wean it before the hot weather if it is strong and has been accustomed to taking other food than the breast milk.

If, however, the return of menstruation affects the milk so that it disagrees with, or fails to satisfactorily nourish the child, it may be necessary to wean, but not unless.

These are all signs of insufficient nourishment, and to the observant mother they will at once indicate that the child must be weaned and fed upon a mixed diet.

While still under the glamour he was given knighthood at the royal hands, and presently was weaned from unwholesome fancies by falling in love.

Peevish all night; in part (I think) because not yet recovered of his weaning, and also because his teeth (second pair on lower jaw) are troubling him.

He was weaned with extreme difficulty, and even when promoted to bread and biscuits and milk puddings, continued to recognize his nurse's past service and reward it with so sincere an affection that the woman accepted an increase of wage and cheerfully consented to stay on and take care of him.

The mother who nurses her child can look forward to a year of joy and happiness; whereas, if the babe is weaned, she is compelled to view this first year with many fears and forebodings.

From one to two months should always be consumed in weaning the baby, unless sudden weaning is necessitated by ill health, as noted elsewhere.

No empty forms could have impressed the unborn children of the Pale so deeply that they were prepared for willing martyrdom almost as soon as they were weaned from their mother's breast.

Humphrey left Edward to put away their goods into the cart, while he went out a second time, to see the goats; with the man who had them for sale he made an agreement for a male and three females with two kids each at their sides, and ten more female kids which had just been weaned.

He had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by any second passion.

In his secret heart the Squire loathed this roundabout management, and tried to wean Walter by consulting him frankly on the daily business of the estate.

Her mother also showed her gratification at his devotion, and tried, with consummate tact, to wean him away from his evident partiality for the suffrage cause.

By my advice he was directly weaned, and rapidly improved in health and appearance (the only medicine given being occasional doses of castor oil).

Fortunately, increase of years weans us from those selfish and frivolous expenses which youth requires, and we feel it little or no sacrifice to devote to our children the means which, before, we considered so important to the gratification of our pride and our ambition.

That was just after I came back again, after Sandy was weaned; and kind she was to me, the bonny, gentle creature that she was.

He resolved to save her, to devote all his powers, all his subtlety, all his intellect, all his strong force of will, to weaning this woman from her fatal habit.

The child should be weaned at nine months old, unless this time comes in very hot weather, or the infant is so delicate that a change of food would be injurious.

By gradually lengthening the interval between the nursing and feeding the child, when it is hungry, the weaning can be accomplished without much trouble.

Mother had through them acquired the belief that I was a rude and untrustworthy fellow, and she feared my boatmen companions were weaning me from her.

Whether it was that she was displeased at my refusing her offer to remain with her, or thought proper to wean herself from one who was so soon to quit her, I know not.

In a majority of instances, when suckling is prolonged to even nineteen or twenty months, pregnancy does not take place at all until after weaning.

Children who are weaned abruptly, and at a very early period, are liable to a serious form of indigestion, which may come on in a few days after weaning, or not for several weeks.

This sober chastised feeling is the very temper of David, when he speaks of having composed and quieted his soul, and weaned it from the babe's nourishment which this world supplies.

Had it indeed been a wilderness, unsettled in all its extent, into which the patriarchs led forth their people, they might have succeeded in weaning them completely from the old influences.

At a month old such of them as are not designed for breeding purposes may be subjected to the usual mutilations; and at from five to six weeks old the young are weaned, and converted into stores.

There we can wean ourselves, as it were, from life, and beneath the melancholy yew and cypress, anticipate the setting star.

Neither the cares of government nor the infirmities of approaching age weaned her from the love of letters, which at every interval of leisure were her great delight.

That brief period during which Elizabeth had been compelled to live a double life for his sake had held many lessons, and had forever weaned her from duplicity of any sort.

Afterwards, too, when they were weaned the babes were taught to walk and speak together, and later, as children, they became playmates.

For the colonies in the Indies, they are yet babes that cannot live without sucking the breasts of their mother cities, but such as I mistake if when they come of age they do not wean themselves; which causes me to wonder at princes that delight to be exhausted in that way.

They weaned Billy Louise's thoughts from her own ranch worries and nagged at her with the persistence of a swarm of buffalo gnats.

Maturity is the gate of paradise, which shuts behind us; and our memories are gradually weaned from the glories in which our nativity was cradled.

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.

If a man steals, he should have such punishment and for such a time as will wean his soul from theft, as will atone for his sin.

One of these was kept stabled for use, but the nine, after the weaning of their colts, managed to get away and wandered off on the range.

For all his lightness in the matter, perhaps he cared deeply for Frances, and would be more difficult to wean than she had thought.

Her husband thought of these as little as herself; yet even he was somewhat surprised to find that he had no trouble in weaning Lucy from the extravagances of her earlier independence.

A select few, however, do appreciate statuary; and such, I am inclined to think, will not be weaned from their passion by the contemplation of the opera singer in his or her various quaint costumes.

I had indeed prayed and struggled to be weaned from this world, but still my affection for him tied me down to the earth with a strong cord: and though I did earnestly try to keep my eyes fixed on the eternal world, yet I viewed it with too feeble a faith; I viewed it at too great a distance.

Birds weaned by careful experiment from a diet of seeds to one of flesh, or conversely, produce changes of effective correlation and adaptation in the characters of their alimentary system.

Some parents never wean themselves nor even seek to do so from the sense of proprietorship, which is sure to be rudely disturbed unless parents are wise to yield it up.

Many mothers do not understand the risk involved in weaning small babies; and so every year many little lives are lost, and lost needlessly.

At this place it is not intended to enter at length into the plan to be pursued in rearing the pups; but the method in which they ought to be weaned must be pointed out.

She could, she reasoned, conduct a rival establishment that should wean the soldier from the false faith to the true, and to this end she sought the aid of the cassock.

I remarked upon his pallor to his mother, and she answered that he had measles about the time he was weaned, and that he had never had much color since.

Another excuse often made for what we consider to be undue haste in weaning young pigs is the alleged desire of the owner not to waste the time of the sow.

This would allow only four weeks for the two litters of pigs to be suckled, and this would also include the few days between the pigs being weaned and the sow coming in heat.

Insidiously, little by little, as the dreary years crept by, would she try to wean Bobby from her, influence him against her?

It was a blasted cowardly trick in them to endeavor to wean us from our cause, which they tried every day; it was seduction, I may say.

Clemence read his thoughts, and a mingling of love for her husband and pity for his weakness, joined to a faint hope that, even yet, he might be weaned from his determination, decided her to speak.

My mother could not nurse me herself, therefore I was obliged to drink cow's milk through a small horn, as is the custom in that country when they wean a child: because they give the children nothing to eat, but only milk to drink, till they are four or five years old.

The colt may be weaned when five to seven months old; and preparatory to this, while with the mare, may be taught to feed on fine hay, meal, or oats.

After the young pheasants are weaned, they must be kept in covered runs, or their wings must be clipped to prevent them from flying.

As it is, I shall wean her, and try if by that step (to which I feel a repugnance, for it is my only solace) I can get rid of my cough.

It will take a little time to wean her from the fancy, and if I pull out the authoritative stop I shall be making him into a hero and her into a persecuted heroine.

Brother was a healthy child during his first year, but when he was weaned, and for three years after that the little one was sick, as though he kept wrestling with death.

The hypocrites of his entourage do their utmost, with luxury, frivolity, and lies, to wean him from what he considers his high calling, which is to prove himself worthy heir of a glorious past.

My imprudence last winter, and some untoward accidents just at the time I was weaning my child, had reduced me to a state of weakness which I never before experienced.

I also saw that my cold reserve had changed his partiality into dislike; and I could readily believe that he would be glad in revenge to wean my husband from me.

Their statues, when an unhappy man gazed at them, reminded him of happiness; he was refreshed and weaned for a moment from the senseless tumult of human affairs.

As soon as weaned, the very children and even the horses are fed on a diet of cheese, butter, and blood, kneaded together in a horrible mess, which is greedily devoured when the taste is acquired.

In this way he weaned many a one, and the clothes of those with whom humane warnings availed nothing he actually put on after dinner on Sunday.

By no intrusive efforts at comforting, but silently and gently did he seek to wean his cousin from the remembrance of her bereavement.