transplant

American  

[trans-plant, -plahnt, trans-plant, -plahnt] / trænsˈplænt, -ˈplɑnt, ˈtrænsˌplænt, -ˌplɑnt /

verb (used with object)

• transplants,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transplanted,
  past participle,  past
• transplanting
  present participle

1. to remove (a plant) from one place and plant it in another.

2. Surgery. to transfer (an organ, tissue, etc.) from one part of the body to another or from one person or animal to another.

3. to move from one place to another.

4. to bring (a family, colony, etc.) from one country, region, etc., to another for settlement; relocate.

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verb (used without object)

• transplants,
  present (3rd person singular)
• transplanted,
  past participle,  past
• transplanting
  present participle

1. to undergo or accept transplanting.

   to transplant easily.

noun

• transplants
  plural

1. the act or process of transplanting.

2. a plant, organ, person, etc., that has been transplanted.

transplant British  

verb

1. (tr) to remove or transfer (esp a plant) from one place to another

2. (intr) to be capable of being transplanted

3. surgery to transfer (an organ or tissue) from one part of the body to another or from one person or animal to another during a grafting or transplant operation

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noun

1. surgery

   1. the procedure involved in such a transfer

   2. the organ or tissue transplanted

transplant Scientific  

/ trăns′plănt′ /

1. A plant that has been uprooted and replanted.

2. A surgical procedure in a human or animal in which a body tissue or organ is transferred from a donor to a recipient or from one part of the body to another. Heart, lung, liver, kidney, corneal, and bone-marrow transplants are performed to treat life-threatening illness. Donated tissue must be histocompatible with that of the recipient to prevent immunological rejection.

3. See also graft

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• retransplantation
  noun
• transplantation
  noun
• transplanter
  noun
• retransplant
  verb (used with object)
• transplantable
  adjective
• untransplanted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• transplants
  plural

Participles

• transplanting
  present
• transplanted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• transplant
  simple
• transplants
  simple
• have transplanted
  perfect
• has transplanted
  perfect
• am transplanting
  progressive
• are transplanting
  progressive
• is transplanting
  progressive
• have been transplanting
  perfect progressive
• has been transplanting
  perfect progressive

Past

• transplanted
  simple
• had transplanted
  perfect
• was transplanting
  progressive
• were transplanting
  progressive
• had been transplanting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will transplant
  simple
• will have transplanted
  perfect
• will be transplanting
  progressive
• will have been transplanting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of transplant

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin trānsplantāre, equivalent to Latin trāns- trans- + plantāre to plant

Explanation

Use the verb transplant to describe what you do when you move a cactus into a bigger container, or what a doctor does when she places a donor organ — like a kidney or lung — into the body of a patient. When you transplant your favorite rose bush, you carefully dig it up and re-plant it in another spot in the yard, maybe one that gets more sunlight. You can also use the word as a noun to describe the act of doing such a thing: "The liver transplant was a success." The word's origin is simple: the Latin trans, or "across," plus plantare, which means "to plant."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

transplant transplants transplanted transplanting

The Glasgow MP and kidney transplant surgeon told the BBC some elements of the transplant system were "world leading", such as being free at the point of care.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

The 26-year-old, who underwent a heart transplant in 2012, began taking an off-label prescription for everolimus, a generic version of Novartis’s anti-rejection drug Zortress, a year later.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Life expectancy can be extended through a lung transplant, but even then the fatal disease will continue to progress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

The coastal village of Onna -- home to the Okinawa science institute -- has been spearheading efforts since 1999 to breed corals and transplant them into the sea.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Has there been a three-person brain transplant in the last few days?

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Emery said some of her 40-something patients are now on the list for double lung transplants, their only real hope of survival.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

The number of heart and lung transplants the NHS carries out each year has not increased in 30 years.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

“The percentage of workers who have either received lung transplants or who are awaiting lung transplants is astoundingly high.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

This has a direct impact on the more than 100,000 patients currently awaiting lifesaving transplants, whose lives depend on Americans saying “yes” to organ donation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Or we move because someone transplants us to a new location.

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

Based on a 1998 Vibe magazine article about street racing import cars in New York, the film was transplanted to Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

Breadnut and its cousin, breadfruit, were transplanted from the Pacific to the Caribbean to become food staples for enslaved populations there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

Unlike other US towns, soccer is the dominant sport in Kearny, mostly due to Scottish and Irish immigrants who transplanted the game in the late 1800s as they arrived for factory jobs.

From Barron's ● May 13, 2026

As the mice aged, the researchers transplanted the stored samples back into the same animals through a process known as fecal microbiota transplantation, or FMT.

From Science Daily ● May 9, 2026

Ben was standing on the bottom step listening to this news, trying to absorb it, but feeling it rejected like a transplanted organ.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Clutching a mysterious tool the shape of a mouse coffin, Firth’s villain tracks Daniel’s location by mentally transplanting himself into another person’s body, changing the color of their pupils to his own icy blue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026

But is transplanting staff at the heart of government part of a bigger strategy?

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026

In practice, he argues, many innovations grow out of existing ones, often by borrowing or transplanting concepts from one field to another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

Another team in China previously reported transplanting such a liver into a patient who had been declared brain-dead.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 5, 2024

On the edge of the garden in a cold frame the tomato and bell pepper and cabbage sets were nearly ready for transplanting, waiting only for the passing of the frost danger.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• emigrate
• graft
• immigrate
• remove
• uproot