Graft Meaning
/ɡɹɑːft/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA 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.
nounA branch or portion of a tree growing from such a shoot.
Sentence Examples
Select the graft point after imagining how the branches will extend and fruit grow.
Some people hate graft because they didn't get their share.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The politician was convicted of ____ in the construction deal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The surgeon performed a skin ____ to help the burn victim recover, using tissue from another part of the patient's body.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English graffe, from Old French greffe (“stylus”), from Latin graphium (“stylus”), from Ancient Greek γραφείον (grapheíon), from γράφειν (gráphein, “to write”); probably akin to English carve. So named from the resemblance of a scion or shoot to a pointed pencil. Doublet of graphium. Compare graphic, grammar.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And graft my love immortal on thy fame!"
— 1717, Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard.:
"Of course, this was a music cruise, a floating rock festival grafted onto a passenger ship, and a quietly thriving corner of the music and cruise industries."
— 2012 March 30, Joe Levy, “Rockers at Sea”, in The New York Times:
"[…] in the first operation, we dug through the peat, the hard sand, and gravel, and one spade's graft (about nine inches deep, and seven inches wide) into the quick sand, the whole length of this drain,[…]"
— 1798 [1792], Memoirs of Science and the Arts, Transactions of the Society instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, page 117:
"If policemen take graft now from the liquor dealers for the privilege of keeping open on Sunday, what is to prevent them, if this bill is passed, from taking graft from the liquor men for the privilege of selling liquor before 1 p.m. on Sunday[…]?"
— 1910, O.R. Miller, The Reform Bulletin:
"Liz Truss, now the Tory leadership frontrunner, launched an astonishing broadside against British workers, saying they needed “more graft” and suggesting they lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals, the Guardian can reveal."
— 2022 August 16, Pippa Crerar, quoting Liz Truss, “Leaked audio reveals Liz Truss said British workers needed ‘more graft’”, in The Guardian:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The politician was convicted of ____ in the construction deal.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The surgeon performed a skin ____ to help the burn victim recover, using tissue from another part of the patient's body.