transfusion

American  

[trans-fyoo-zhuhn] / trænsˈfyu ʒən /

noun

1. the act or process of transfusing.

2. Medicine/Medical. the direct transferring of blood, plasma, or the like into a blood vessel.

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transfusion British  

/ trænsˈfjuːʒən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of transfusing

2. the injection of blood, blood plasma, etc, into the blood vessels of a patient

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transfusion Scientific  

/ trăns-fyo̅o̅′zhən /

1. 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.

2. See more at Rh factor See Note at blood type

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Etymology

Origin of transfusion

1570–80; < Latin trānsfūsiōn- (stem of trānsfūsiō ) decanting, intermingling, equivalent to trānsfūs ( us ) ( transfuse ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

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

Taking a page from battlefield medicine, Jenkins and some other transfusion experts have proposed “walking blood banks,” in which preidentified donors can be called upon during an emergency to donate whole blood.

From Slate • Oct. 21, 2025

He remembered that on Christmas Day 1988 - after an accident - he had been given a blood transfusion at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

From BBC • Oct. 6, 2025

Dr. Musoke abandoned his efforts to give his patient a blood transfusion for fear that the patient would bleed to death out of the small hole in his arm.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston