Dictionary Definition
graft
Noun
1 (surgery) tissue or organ transplanted from a
donor to a recipient; in some cases the patient can be both donor
and recipient [syn: transplant]
2 the practice of offering something (usually
money) in order to gain an illicit advantage [syn: bribery]
3 the act of grafting something onto something
else [syn: grafting]
Verb
1 cause to grow together parts from different
plants; "graft the cherry tree branch onto the plum tree" [syn:
engraft, ingraft]
2 place athe organ of a donor into the body of a
recipient [syn: transplant]
User Contributed Dictionary
Etymology
From etyl enm graffe < etyl fro greffe < etyl la graphium < etyl grc γραφείον < γράφειν; probably akin to English carve. So named from the resemblance of a scion or shoot to a pointed pencil. Compare graphic, grammar.Noun
- A small shoot or scion of a tree inserted in another tree, the stock of which is to support and nourish it. The two unite and become one tree, but the graft determines the kind of fruit.
- A branch or portion of a tree growing from such a shoot.
- surgery countable A portion of living tissue used in the operation of autoplasty.
- uncountable colloquial Hard work.
- uncountable slang A criminal’s special branch of practice
- Illicit profit by corrupt means, especially in public life.
- Corruption in official life.
- A con job.
- countable slang A cut of the take (money).
- A bribe, especially on an ongoing basis.
Translations
small shoot or scion
branch or portion of a tree growing from such a
shoot
- Dutch: ent
- Indonesian: hasil pencangkokan
- Portuguese: enxerto
portion of living tissue used in the operation
of autoplasty
- Finnish: siirrännäinen
- Portuguese: enxerto
hard work
- Dutch: labeur
criminal’s special branch of practice
- Dutch: métier, branche, specialiteit
illicit profit by corrupt means, especially in
public life
corruption in official life
- Dutch: corruptie
con job
- Finnish: huijaus
- Portuguese: golpe
cut of the take
- Dutch: aandeel, deel, portie
bribe
- Dutch: smeergeld
- Finnish: lahjus
- Portuguese: suborno
Verb
- To insert (a graft) in a branch or stem of another tree; to propagate by insertion in another stock; also, to insert a graft upon.
- transitive surgery To implant a portion of (living flesh or akin) in a lesion so as to form an organic union.
- To join (one thing) to another as if by grafting, so as to
bring about a close union.
-
- And graft my love immortal on thy fame! — Pope
-
- transitive nautical To cover, as a ring bolt, block strap, splicing, etc., with a weaving of small cord or rope-yarns.
- To insert scions from one tree, or kind of tree, etc., into another; to practice grafting.
Translations
insert (a graft) in a branch or stem of another
tree
implant a portion of (living flesh or akin) in a
lesion so as to form an organic union
- Finnish: tehdä elinsiirto
- Portuguese: enxertar
- Swedish: ymp
join (one thing) to another as if by grafting
- Dutch: enten
- Portuguese: enxertar
cover, as a ring bolt, block strap, splicing,
etc.
insert scions from one tree, or kind of tree,
etc.
- Dutch: enten
- Italian: innestare
- Portuguese: enxertar
Extensive Definition
Graft may refer to:
- Grafting, where the tissues of one plant are affixed to the tissues of another
- Medical grafting, a surgical procedure to transplant tissue without a blood supply
- Skin grafting, a type of organ transplant procedure involving skin
- Graft (Netherlands), a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp
- Photografting
- In politics of some countries, graft is a form of political corruption whereby someone profits personally from the public budget
- In some parts of the world, for example in the United Kingdom, graft means hard work (as a noun) or to work hard (as a verb). Thus in British dialect, a grafter is someone who works hard. This is the more commonly understood meaning in the UK, and is mutually exclusive with the American concept. The modern UK slang term for political corruption is sleaze
- The origins of this word are still unproven, but a likely source is the act of digging, considered a low or menial type of work. In American slang of the mid-1800s, graft was used to mean work. By the late 1800s, the meaning drifted to refer to illegal work. The root word is graaf, the imperative form of Dutch word for digging
- Graft (1915 serial), a 1915 film serial
- Graft (1931 film), a 1931 film featuring Boris Karloff
graft in French: Greffe
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abstraction, affix, anchor, annex, annexation, appropriation, attach, ballot-box stuffing,
belay, blackmail, boodle, boodling, boosting, booty, bribery, bribery and corruption,
bribing, bud, bunco, campaign contribution,
campaign fund, cardsharping, cement, cheat, cheating, cinch, clamp, clinch, conversion, conveyance, corruption, cozenage, cramp, diddle, diddling, dishonesty, dodge, embedment, embezzlement, engraft, entrance, extortion, fasten, filching, fishy transaction,
fix, flam, flimflam, fraud, fraudulence, fraudulency, gerrymandering, grafting, grapple, grift, gyp, gyp joint, haul, hot goods, illicit business,
imp, impaction, impactment, implant, implantation, imposition, imposture, inarch, infixion, infusion, injection, inoculation, insert, insertion, insinuation, interjection, interpolation, introduction, intromission, jobbery, join, kickback, knit, liberation, lifting, loot, make fast, moor, nepotism, payola, penetration, perfusion, perks, perquisite, pickings, pilferage, pilfering, pinching, plunder, poaching, political intrigue,
pork barrel, pork-barrel legislation, pork-barreling, prize, public till, public tit,
public trough, put to, racket, scam, scion, screw up, scrounging, secure, set, set to, shoot, shoplifting, slush fund,
snatching, sneak
thievery, snitching,
splice, spoil, spoils, spoils of office, spoils
system, squeeze,
stealage, stealing, stealings, stolen goods,
subornation,
swag, swindle, swiping, take, tessellation, theft, thievery, thieving, tighten, till, transplant, transplantation, trice
up, trim