hospital
Americannoun
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hospitals
plural
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an institution in which sick or injured people are given medical or surgical treatment.
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a similar establishment for the care of animals.
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a repair shop for specific portable objects: doll hospital.
violin hospital;
doll hospital.
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British. an institution supported by charity or taxes for people in need of care, as a children's home or nursing home.
noun
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an institution for the medical, surgical, obstetric, or psychiatric care and treatment of patients
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(modifier) having the function of a hospital
a hospital ship
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a repair shop for something specified
a dolls' hospital
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archaic a charitable home, hospice, or school
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hospital
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English (h)ospital, “lodging for pilgrims and travelers, hostel,” Old French (h)ospital, from Medieval Latin hospitāle “guesthouse, inn,” noun use of neuter of Latin hospitālis “hospitable,” equivalent to hospit- stem of hospes “guest, visitor, host” + -ālis -al 1 ( def. ); see also hospitium
Explanation
A hospital is the place to go when you're very sick or injured in a way that requires immediate treatment. If you trip over your shoelaces and break your arm, you'll need to go to the hospital. People having surgery or delivering a baby usually go to a hospital, and if you suspect you have food poisoning, you might visit the emergency room of a hospital. Hospitals are staffed by doctors and nurses, as well as office workers, cleaners, and aides of various kinds. The earliest hospitals were shelters or needy people, or hostels for travelers, and the word comes from the Late Latin hospitale, "guest house or inn."
Vocabulary lists containing hospital
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The man, whose condition was not immediately clear, remains in custody at the hospital.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The minister said a range of factors were responsible but added the government was aiming to reduced "avoidable hospital admissions".
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Francis spent weeks at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where popes traditionally go for medical treatment.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Oleshky’s hospital remains open, but is short of medicine and other supplies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
He had kept mother and child in the hospital longer than permitted already because she had nowhere else to go.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Some strains have developed resistance to multiple antibiotics and are responsible for difficult-to-treat infections acquired in hospitals.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
The minister said the problem was particularity acute in certain hospitals and parts of the country.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The treatment, for patients with thalassaemia or sickle cell disease, is offered to young people at three children's hospitals in the country.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
The proposed ban would target locations where privacy is highly important, such as swimming pools, gyms, schools and hospitals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
It’s the hospitals I’m seeing them from that are the same.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
