Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To put into or introduce as if by pouring.
  • transitive verb To fill or cause to be filled with something.
  • transitive verb To steep or soak without boiling in order to extract soluble elements or active principles.
  • transitive verb To flavor or scent (a liquid) by steeping ingredients in it.
  • transitive verb To introduce (a solution) into the body through a vein for therapeutic purposes.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To pour in or into, as a liquid; introduce and pervade with, as an ingredient: as, to infuse a flavor into sauce.
  • To introduce as by pouring; cause to penetrate; insinuate; instil: with into: chiefly in figurative uses.
  • To steep; extract the principles or qualities of, as a vegetable substance, by pouring a liquid upon it; make an infusion of.
  • To affect or modify by infusion; mingle; hence, to imbue; tinge: followed by with.
  • To pour, or pour out; shed; diffuse.
  • noun An infusion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To pour in, as a liquid; to pour (into or upon); to shed.
  • transitive verb To instill, as principles or qualities; to introduce.
  • transitive verb To inspire; to inspirit or animate; to fill; -- followed by with.
  • transitive verb To steep in water or other fluid without boiling, for the propose of extracting medicinal qualities; to soak.
  • transitive verb rare To make an infusion with, as an ingredient; to tincture; to saturate.
  • noun obsolete Infusion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To cause to become an element of something; to insert or fill.
  • verb transitive To steep in a liquid, so as to extract the soluble constituents (usually medicinal or herbal).
  • verb transitive To instill as a quality.
  • verb intransitive To undergo infusion.
  • verb intransitive To tincture.
  • verb intransitive To saturate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb introduce into the body through a vein, for therapeutic purposes
  • verb teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
  • verb let sit in a liquid to extract a flavor or to cleanse
  • verb fill, as with a certain quality
  • verb undergo the process of infusion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English infusen, from Old French infuser, from Latin īnfundere, īnfūs- : in-, in; see in– + fundere, to pour; see gheu- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin [in]fu(n)do fu(n)dere fusi fusum: to pour.

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Examples

  • What is especially bad is that one does not need to "fix" (as in infuse to every member) the same bad mutation in every individual for bad mutations to degrade an entire population.

    The Weasel Thread 2009

  • I’m sure Rosenberg found a way in infuse more “Edward” without taking away from Bella’s heartache.

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  • The band will "infuse" two short (silent) films with their "rambunctious, anthemic sound."

    Events Roundup: February 13, 2009 2009

  • And the proposal uses the word "infuse", which I usually associate with cooking, but which also has Protestant roots in reference to the Holy Spirit or Divine Grace.

    Is this a generalization I see before me? 2006

  • Roberto Alomar to the Mets would "infuse" some upper-level talent in the name of Alex Escobar into the system.

    USATODAY.com - Indians 2002 prospect report 2002

  • Into this existing set of shared understandings of how the world operates, it is necessary to 'infuse' the appropriate set of Marxian conceptions both around the essential nature of capital/labour relations and the consciousness of the working class as an objective entity in relation to capital.

    British Blogs 2010

  • Instead of giving a couple of set recipes, it gave a basic custard recipe and then ingredients to "infuse" (step one), to "add" (step two) and to "mix in" (step three), depending on your taste.

    post-gazette.com - News 2009

  • One or two CMs had apparently received a government grant that they were using to pay a few faculty to listen to them explain how to "infuse" their left-wing ideology into all of their classes, but no one seemed to take them very seriously.

    Latest Articles 2008

  • Acceptable Afghan-American voices such as Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) and Awista Ayub (Kabul Girls Soccer Club) reiterate the notion that suburban America can "infuse" Afghans with freedom.

    Burkas and bikinis 2010

  • The other day, in the last meeting of the Arab foreign ministers, he said that it is important that we "infuse" the peace process with blood."

    Thursday, August 31, 2006 As'ad 2006

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