transfusion
Americannoun
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the act or process of transfusing.
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Medicine/Medical. the direct transferring of blood, plasma, or the like into a blood vessel.
noun
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the act or an instance of transfusing
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the injection of blood, blood plasma, etc, into the blood vessels of a patient
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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.
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See more at Rh factor See Note at blood type
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.
Vocabulary lists containing transfusion
"Laws are not the only way to boost immunization”: an editorial from Nature
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Bronx Masquerade
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was this "overwhelming pressure" that prompted Jones to ultimately turn down the transfusion.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
Despite her doctor's concerns, Jones, who now works in insurance and has left the religion, survived without the transfusion.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
At one point since the crash, Vonn said, she received a blood transfusion to raise her hemoglobin levels.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
“I got my blood transfusion when I married my wife.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
“You seem nice, your parents seem fine, and you know, if I ever need a kidney or a blood transfusion, it wouldn’t hurt to have you in my contacts.”
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
