[n. of action f. L. lactāre to suckle. Cf. F. lactation.]

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  1.  The action or process of giving suck to an infant; suckling.

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1668.  Wilkins, Real Char., II. ix. § 2. 233. Lactation, giving suck.

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1806.  Med. Jrnl., XV. 215. The remote causes of nervous diseases, &c. viz. in … Lactation.

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1836–7.  Sir W. Hamilton, Metaph., I. App. 410. By the end of the full period of lactation, it has … reached the full proportion of the adult.

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1860.  Tanner, Pregnancy, ii. 48. During the periods of lactation and pregnancy.

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1879.  Khory, Princ. Med., 18. Prolonged lactation also causes giddiness.

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  2.  The process of secreting milk from the mammary glands.

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1857.  J. H. Walsh, Dom. Econ., 559. The establishment of lactation is the turning-point of the lying-in-room.

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