transplant
Americanverb (used with object)
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transplants,
present (3rd person singular)
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transplanted,
past participle, past
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transplanting
present participle
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to remove (a plant) from one place and plant it in another.
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Surgery. to transfer (an organ, tissue, etc.) from one part of the body to another or from one person or animal to another.
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to move from one place to another.
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to bring (a family, colony, etc.) from one country, region, etc., to another for settlement; relocate.
verb (used without object)
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transplants,
present (3rd person singular)
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transplanted,
past participle, past
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transplanting
present participle
noun
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transplants
plural
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the act or process of transplanting.
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a plant, organ, person, etc., that has been transplanted.
verb
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(tr) to remove or transfer (esp a plant) from one place to another
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(intr) to be capable of being transplanted
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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
noun
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A plant that has been uprooted and replanted.
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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.
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See also graft
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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retransplantationnoun
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transplantationnoun
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transplanternoun
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retransplantverb (used with object)
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transplantableadjective
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untransplantedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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transplantsimple
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transplantssimple
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have transplantedperfect
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has transplantedperfect
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am transplantingprogressive
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are transplantingprogressive
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is transplantingprogressive
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have been transplantingperfect progressive
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has been transplantingperfect progressive
Past
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transplantedsimple
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had transplantedperfect
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was transplantingprogressive
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were transplantingprogressive
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had been transplantingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing transplant
“For the Herd’s Sake, Vaccinate" by Steven L. Weinreb
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The Chocolate War
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 29–February 4, 2022
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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.
See Examples For:
But he still needs a transplant and doctors have told his parents Catrin and Dylan they do not know how long the wait will be before he gets one.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
The sensitive medical data of transplant patients from across the UK was routinely sent over an unencrypted pager network, an NHS service has admitted.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 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
The state has tracked data for 72 workers who have undergone lung transplants and 51 workers who have been referred for lung transplant evaluations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
“You would not be considered a strong candidate for a transplant, unfortunately,” she said.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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 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
Biliary atresia is the leading cause of pediatric liver transplants and currently has no approved therapeutic options beyond surgery or liver transplant, Ipsen said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
His family said that Pearce, a registered organ donor, donated six organs, helping seven people in urgent need of transplants.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
But at the same time Matt remembered Maria saying that she did know the source of El Patron s transplants: And it’s evil!
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
The feat followed trial and error that initially saw him mollycoddle corals in stress-free environments, but those easily perished in the ocean once transplanted.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The situation led to his decision to stop taking medication that was needed to ensure the continued functioning of a transplanted kidney his brother had donated to him.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
The researchers transplanted APCs from both young and older mice into a separate group of young mice.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 27, 2026
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
At around thirteen she began to develop breasts; she lost weight, her waist thinned out, and she shot up like a transplanted tree.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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
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
A living donor liver transplant involves removing a section of liver from the donor and transplanting it into the recipient.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2025
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
She invited my mother over for cards and scrapbooking parties and book club meetings, but Mom was too busy transplanting hearts.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
