Definition

1. Verb:
   • To transfer (blood, or other fluid) from one person, animal, or container into another: The primary medical meaning, referring to the process of introducing blood or a blood component into a patient's circulatory system.
   • To cause to be infused or instilled; to impart gradually: To transmit or communicate a quality, feeling, or idea to someone, causing it to spread through or permeate something else.
   • To pour from one container into another: A more literal, though less common, meaning of transferring a liquid.

Usage and Examples

• Medical Context (Transferring Blood/Fluid):

  • Doctors had to transfuse two units of blood to stabilize the patient after the surgery.
  • The hospital urgently needs donors to transfuse plasma to the accident victims.

• Imparting a Quality or Idea (Figurative Use):

  • The coach sought to transfuse a sense of discipline and teamwork into the new players.
  • Her speech transfused the audience with hope and determination for the future.

• Pouring from One Vessel to Another (Literal Use):

  • Carefully transfuse the solution from the beaker into the test tube to avoid spills.

Advanced Usage

• "to transfuse something into someone/something": This is the most common construction for both literal and figurative meanings.
  • The goal is to transfuse new energy into the struggling project.
• Passive Voice: Often used to describe the state of receiving something.
  • The patient was transfused with compatible blood.

Variants and Related Words

• Transfusion (n): The act or process of transfusing, especially blood.
  • He required an emergency blood transfusion.
• Transfusible/Transfusable (adj): Capable of being transfused.
  • The blood was tested to ensure it was transfusible.

Synonyms

• Infuse: To instill or introduce a quality.
• Instill: To gradually but firmly establish an idea or feeling.
• Impart: To communicate or make known.
• Transfer: To move from one place to another.

Related Phrases and Constructions

• Transfuse with: To fill or supply someone/something with a particular quality.
  • The leader transfused the team with confidence.
• Undergo a transfusion: The common phrase for receiving blood medically.
  • The patient had to undergo a transfusion.

Notes on Meaning

• The word strongly implies a transfer and a mixing or integration of the introduced element into the recipient system, whether that system is a physical body, a group of people, or an abstract concept like morale.
• In modern English, the medical sense is the most frequent and specific use. The figurative sense is formal and literary. The literal sense of pouring between containers is rare and technical.

Verb

1. give a transfusion (e.g., of blood) to
2. treat by applying evacuated cups to the patient's skin
3. pour out of one vessel into another
4. impart gradually
   • Her presence instilled faith into the children
   • transfuse love of music into the students