infuse
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /ɪnˈfjuz/
Verb

infuse (infuses, present participle infusing; past and past participle infused)

  1. (transitive) To cause to become an element of something; to insert or fill.
  2. (transitive) To steep in a liquid, so as to extract the soluble constituents (usually medicinal or herbal).
    • One scruple of dried leaves is infused in ten ounces of warm water.
  3. (transitive) To inspire; to inspirit or animate; to fill (with).
    • c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene iv]:
      Infuse his breast with magnanimity.
    • 1595 December 9 (first known performance)​, William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act III, scene ii]:
      infusing him with self and vain conceit
  4. (transitive) To instill as a quality.
    • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
      That souls of animals infuse themselves / Into the trunks of men.
    • c. 1720, Jonathan Swift, An Essay on Modern Education
      Why should he desire to have qualities infused into his son, which himself never possessed, or knew, or found the want of, in the acquisition of his wealth?
  5. (intransitive) To undergo infusion.
    • Let it infuse for five minutes.
  6. (transitive) To make an infusion with (an ingredient); to tincture; to saturate.
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To pour in, as a liquid; to pour (into or upon); to shed.
    • That strong Circean liquor cease to infuse.
Related terms Translations
  • French: infuser
  • German: ziehen lassen
  • Russian: наста́ивать



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