transfusion

American  

[trans-fyoo-zhuhn] / trænsˈfju ʒən /

noun

transfusions plural

1. the act or process of transfusing.

2. Medicine/Medical. the direct transferring of blood, plasma, or the like into a blood vessel.

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transfusion British  

/ trænsˈfjuːʒən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of transfusing

2. the injection of blood, blood plasma, etc, into the blood vessels of a patient

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transfusion Scientific  

/ trăns-fyo̅o̅′zhən /

1. The transfer of blood or a component of blood, such as red blood cells, plasma, or platelets, from one person to another to replace losses caused by injury, surgery, or disease. Donated blood products are tested for blood type and certain infectious diseases and stored in blood banks until they are used. The blood of the donor is shown to be histologically compatible, or crossmatched, with that of the recipient before transfusion.

2. See more at Rh factor See Note at blood type

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• transfusions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of transfusion

1570–80; < Latin trānsfūsiōn- (stem of trānsfūsiō ) decanting, intermingling, equivalent to trānsfūs ( us ) ( see transfuse) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

A transfusion is when doctors put blood into a patient's vein. An accident victim might need a transfusion if he's lost blood. Besides accidents, there are other medical conditions that require blood transfusions, such as heart disease and some kinds of surgery. The blood a patient receives during a transfusion usually comes from donations given by healthy people. You can use the noun transfusion for any transfer of liquid, like the pouring of lemonade from a glass pitcher to a plastic one, though it's most often used to describe the medical procedure.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transfusion transfusions

The next day, the video shows care staff anesthetizing Jackie for the blood transfusion and notes she was stronger and more alert the next day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

After receiving a life-saving blood transfusion last week, her blood values dropped again Saturday, the Ojai Raptor Center, which is treating Jackie, said in a social media post.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Waldorf had spelled out the catch-22 in her journal that morning: “If I need a blood transfusion and it stabilizes my condition, they cannot induce. If my temp continues to spike then they can induce.”

From Salon ● May 27, 2026

Medical staff took blood tests and he was admitted for a blood transfusion to address low haemoglobin levels, as well as investigations into his heart murmur.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

I was planning to give him the drawing for his birthday, but after seeing those brochures, he looked like he needed a transfusion, so why wait?

From "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes

The child, the complaint says, required dialysis and blood transfusions and suffered seizures and decreased pancreatic function.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

After I woke up at the hospital, I needed multiple surgeries, blood transfusions and a partial hysterectomy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026

And data analyses by ProPublica showed that sepsis rates and blood transfusions spiked among miscarrying women after the ban went into effect — an indicator of dangerous delays in care across the state.

From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2026

"Any mention of transfusions brings me back to being that frightened child, sitting alone in my room, trying to make sense of a choice that felt impossible," she said.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026

Darwin's “gemmule” theory—that hereditary instructions were thrown adrift by all cells and then floated in the blood, like a million messages in bottles—suggested that blood transfusions might transmit gemmules and thereby alter heredity.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee