ambulance

[am-byuh-luhns]

noun

1. a specially equipped motor vehicle, airplane, ship, etc., for carrying sick or injured people, usually to a hospital.

2. (formerly) a field hospital.

ambulance

/ ˈæmbjʊləns /

noun

1. a motor vehicle designed to carry sick or injured people

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambulance¹

1800–10; < French, equivalent to ( hôpital ) ambul ( ant ) walking (hospital) + -ance -ance. See ambulant

Word History and Origins

Origin of ambulance¹

C19: from French, based on ( hôpital ) ambulant mobile or field (hospital), from Latin ambulāre to walk

Example Sentences

The site has been cordoned off, with police, fire and ambulance services present and helicopters overhead.

From BBC

When he arrived, he saw Dean being loaded into an ambulance and breathing heavily — a sign, he thought, of severe brain injury.

From Los Angeles Times

Emergency services including the air ambulance attended, but the pedestrian was pronounced dead.

From BBC

First Minister John Swinney has apologised to a young footballer who had to wait five hours for an ambulance after breaking her leg.

From BBC

As soon as the ambulance left, he said he collapsed to his knee exhausted.

From Los Angeles Times