How to Use wean from/off in a Sentence

wean from/off

phrasal verb
  • Shock — or the desire to shock — is hard to wean off of.
    Andy O'Connor, SPIN, 13 Jan. 2023
  • Hammes said the IQAir report is even more reason for the world to wean off fossil fuel.
    Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 22 Mar. 2022
  • Natural gas accounts for around a third of Germany’s energy consumption, second only to oil — and that could grow due to pledges to wean off coal and nuclear.
    Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2022
  • The United States unveiled a contentious plan to raise billions to help developing nations wean off fossil fuels.
    Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2022
  • Since the Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, member states have been trying to find ways to wean off Russian fossil fuels while securing enough energy to keep the lights on across Europe.
    Emily Rauhala, Washington Post, 30 May 2022
  • Local officials, hoping to wean off boom-and-bust industries like oil, see WIPP as a stable economic driver and good neighbor.
    Daniel Moore, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2023
  • Unlike the agonists methadone and buprenorphine, which may help people wean off opioids, a person can't take naltrexone while using opioids.
    Sarah Fielding, Health.com, 19 Nov. 2021
  • Postpartum depression can also crop up later in the postpartum year when people go back to work or wean from breastfeeding, Dr. Vernon says.
    Tiffany Ayuda, SELF, 6 Oct. 2022
  • Getting serious about async requires us to wean off our meeting addiction and replace them with async communication like audio, text, or video messages.
    Tom Medema, Quartz, 6 Apr. 2023
  • The United States is investing in mining operations abroad to wean off its dependence on fossil fuels but harbors concerns about trading with an abusive government.
    Zoe Dutton / Nexus Media, Popular Science, 23 Jan. 2023
  • As climate-conscious California cities make plans to wean off natural gas, SoCalGas and other utilities are investing in greener alternatives to stay in business.
    Alessandra Bergamin, Discover Magazine, 11 Apr. 2021
  • In January, China’s minister of natural resources, Wang Guanghua, highlighted the importance of sourcing raw materials and energy domestically to wean off foreign dependence.
    Julia Malleck, Quartz, 2 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wean from/off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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