graft1
/ɡrɑːft
/noun
1A shoot or twig inserted into a slit on the trunk or stem of a living plant, from which it receives sap.From those few grafts, other grafts were made from the top cuttings of the trees, but the seeds have never germinated....
- In successful grafts, seedlings grew well up to 7 weeks after grafting.
- Horticulturists at the facility have repeatedly failed to propagate the plant by cuttings or grafts.
Synonyms
scion, cutting, shoot, offshoot, bud, slip, new growth, sprout, sprig
1.1An instance of grafting a shoot or twig on to a living plant.Trees were obtained from grafts on plants of Juglans regia and were pruned in ‘structured axis’.
2 Medicine A piece of living tissue that is transplanted surgically.The database also provides survival rates of people who received cell grafts, helping doctors and their patients evaluate the potential risks and benefits of transplantation in treating disorders such as leukemia....
- Infection and lack of a satisfactory blood supply prevent grafts from surviving.
- The technology could revolutionise the treatment of burns and skin damage, offering a less painful alternative to skin grafts and reduced scarring.
2.1A surgical operation in which tissue is transplanted.Most people have several grafts done during one operation....
- Skin grafts are performed by surgeons (including plastic surgeons) and by some dermatologists.
- ‘I am still undergoing bone grafts and have a pin in my leg, but finally it looks as if the bone is mending,’ she said from Nature's Valley, near Plettenberg Bay.
verb [with object and adverbial]
1Insert (a shoot or twig) as a graft: it was common to graft different varieties on to a single tree trunk...
- Rose Wilt was long thought to be a suspected viral disease caused by grafting scions onto imported root stocks from the U.K., Canada and Australia.
- A Yoshino cherry is propagated by grafting a cutting onto another cherry trunk or by rooting small cuttings.
- To preserve the variation named varieties have to be grafted, a labour intensive business which explains the high price.
1.1Insert a graft on (a trunk or stem).Remember, many hybrid modern roses are grafted onto a root stock; hence, the resulting rose may not be exactly the same as that from which you took your cuttings....
- Many of the modern roses in commerce today are grafted onto these stocks.
- Once identified, the tops were cut from the trees and then sent to their seed farm in Vernon, BC where they were grafted onto root stock.
Synonyms
affix, slip, join, insert, splice
rare engraft
2 Medicine Transplant (living tissue) as a graft: they can graft a new hand on to the nerve ends...
- Surgeons grafted tissue from her leg to the outside of her brain for protection.
- Jessica underwent a second operation to graft nerve tissue from the back of her legs into her arm.
- The new skin is then grafted back on to the patient without the danger of rejection because it has been made from their own cells.
Synonyms
transplant, implant, transfer
3Combine or integrate (an idea, system, etc.) with another, typically in a way considered inappropriate: old values have been grafted on to a new economic class...
- A non-competitive system cannot be grafted on to a competitive exam.
- Unlike most French teams, they were mentally tough away from home and he has grafted that mentality on to the national side.
- The fact of the matter is that mainstream news media is a stable industry, and it is very slow to effectively graft new ideas onto its main business.
Synonyms
fasten, attach, add, fix, join, insert
Origin
Late Middle English graff, from Old French grafe, via Latin from Greek graphion 'stylus, writing implement' (with reference to the tapered tip of the scion), from graphein 'write'. The final -t is typical of phonetic confusion between -f and -ft at the end of words; compare with tuft.
A graft is a shoot from one plant fixed into a slit made in another to form a new growth. Originally spelled graff, it derives from Greek graphion ‘stylus, pointed writing implement’, from graphein ‘to write’, source of the graphite (late 18th century) in your pencil, graphic art (mid 17th century), and diagram (early 17th century). The tapered tip of the shoot was thought to resemble a stylus. The other graft (mid 19th century), ‘hard work’, may be related to the phrase spade's graft ‘the amount of earth that one stroke of a spade will move’, based on Old Norse groftr ‘digging’.
Rhymes
graft2
/ɡrɑːft/noun [mass noun]
1Bribery and other corrupt practices used to secure illicit advantages or gains in politics or business: sweeping measures to curb official graft...
- But in six years of exposures of illicit arms deals, graft and bribery, only once has the political establishment blushed enough to take action.
- In the impeachment complaint, Estrada has been charged with bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
- Estrada was impeached by the House of Representatives on Nov.13 on charges that included bribery, graft and corruption.
Synonyms
corruption, bribery, bribing, dishonesty, deceit, fraud, fraudulence, subornation, unlawful practices, illegal means, underhand means;
North American payola
informal palm-greasing, back-scratching, hush money, kickback, crookedness, shadiness, shady business, dirty tricks, dirty dealings, wheeling and dealing, sharp practices
1.1Advantages or gains secured as a result of corrupt practices.
verb [no object]
Make money by shady or dishonest means.The only friends I had were people I would graft with or put money together for drugs with....
- The corruption within the plants runs thick, with bosses demanding ‘gifts’ of money from their workers, and grafting off those in the hierarchy of management.
- The whole plant is corrupt-the bosses graft off the men and off each other.
Derivatives
grafter
/ noun ...- We have started going after grafters in government.
- So, there are two sets of grafters called ‘political parties’ and the party that ‘buys’ the most votes gets elected.
- Woven throughout the tale is a plea to those on the top of the pile to help the grifters and grafters and ex-cons and prostitutes find a place in society instead of in jail.
Origin
Mid 19th century: of unknown origin.
graft3
/ɡrɑːft/British informal
noun [mass noun]
Hard work: success came after years of hard graft...
- Certain players did not show enough desire and we have got to make sure that every player who puts on that red shirt will give us 90 minutes of sheer hard graft.
- Clever footwork, intelligent running and sheer hard graft earned him plenty of applause.
- Her course tutor said: ‘It was her determination, effort, hard graft and enthusiasm that has earned her this award.’
Synonyms
work, effort, endeavour, toil, labour, exertion, the sweat of one's brow, drudgery, donkey work;
perseverance, persistence
informal slog
Australian/New Zealand informal yakka
verb [no object]
Work hard: I need people prepared to go out and graft...
- ‘Jon has grafted really hard and has certainly deserved his chance.’
- ‘We have grafted really hard, done overtime and achieved record amounts of business,’ she said.
- I was a bit disappointed with my Bs in computing because I thought I had grafted hard in that.
Synonyms
work hard, exert oneself, toil, labour, hammer away, grind away, sweat;
plod away, slave away, work like a Trojan, work like a dog, keep one's nose to the grindstone;
persevere, persist, keep at it, stick with it
informal slog away, plug away, beaver away, put one's back into something, work one's socks off, work one's guts out, sweat blood, kill oneself
British informal get one's head down
British vulgar slang work one's balls/arse/nuts off
North American vulgar slang work one's ass/butt off
archaic drudge, travail, moil
Derivatives
grafter
/ noun ...- He was a grafter, a runner, a guy who would never stop, so there was an inevitability that he'd pop up with the header which won us the game 4-3.
- I worked with Wally for years, I know what a grafter he was.
- They were ordinary working men; humble grafters who dreamed of making the ships of the future while they toiled through gruelling apprentice - ships in the cauldron of a 19th century London shipyard.
Origin
Mid 19th century: perhaps related to the phrase spade's graft 'the amount of earth that one stroke of a spade will move', based on Old Norse grǫftr 'digging'.