graft

plural grafts · alternative archaic graff

1. agricultureA 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.
2. agricultureA branch or portion of a tree growing from such a shoot.
3. medicineA portion of living tissue used in the operation of autoplasty.

present singular third person grafts · participle present grafting · participle past grafted · past grafted · alternative archaic graff

1. transitiveTo insert (a graft) in a branch or stem of another tree; to propagate by insertion in another stock; also, to insert a graft upon.
2. intransitiveTo insert scions (grafts) from one tree, or kind of tree, etc., into another; to practice grafting.
3. transitivemedicineTo implant a portion of (living flesh or akin) in a lesion so as to form an organic union.
4. transitiveTo 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!

   1717, Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard.

   1 more example

   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

   Synonyms: affix

5. transitivenauticalTo cover, as a ring bolt, block strap, splicing, etc., with a weaving of small cord or rope yarns.
6. chemistryTo form a graft polymer

plural grafts

1. obsoleteA ditch, a canal.
2. The depth of the blade of a digging tool such as a spade or shovel.

   […] 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

3. A narrow spade used in digging drainage trenches.

plural grafts

1. uncountableCorruption in official life.
2. uncountableIllicit profit by corrupt means, especially in public life.
3. slanguncountableA criminal’s special branch of practice.
4. countableA con job.
5. countableslangA cut of the take (money).
6. USuncountablegovernmentA bribe, especially on an ongoing basis.

   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

7. UKcolloquialuncountableWork; labor requiring effort; labor requiring both effort and cleverness (both working hard and working smart).

   Near-synonyms: hustle, grind

   2 more examples

   We had to put in a lot of hard graft to get the job done.

   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

   Synonyms: hustle, grind

8. UKcolloquialcountableA job or trade.

present singular third person grafts · participle present grafting · participle past grafted · past grafted

1. colloquialintransitiveTo work hard.
2. To obtain illegal gain from bribery or similar corrupt practices.

plural Grafts

1. A surname.