ambulance
Americannoun
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a specially equipped motor vehicle, airplane, ship, etc., for carrying sick or injured people, usually to a hospital.
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(formerly) a field hospital.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ambulance
1800–10; < French, equivalent to ( hôpital ) ambul ( ant ) walking (hospital) + -ance -ance. See ambulant
Explanation
An ambulance is an emergency vehicle that transports people to the hospital in emergencies. If you see that someone's been injured in a car accident, it's a good idea to call an ambulance. People who are terribly sick, or who are unexpectedly hurt or injured, often need to get to a hospital quickly, and this is what an ambulance is for. As the patient is driven to a hospital, with the ambulance's lights flashing and siren sounding, he or she is often treated by an emergency medical technician. The word comes from the French phrase hôpital ambulant, or "walking hospital," from the Latin ambulare, "to walk."
Vocabulary lists containing ambulance
Walk the Walk: Amb
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English Words Derived from French, List 2
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National Nurses Week: Tasks and Equipment
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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:
These are examples of calls received by control room staff - and they have to decide who really needs an ambulance.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
"I only want to send an ambulance when we really know that person needs to be transported somewhere urgently," said the Welsh Ambulance Service's executive director of paramedicine Andy Swinburn.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Researchers also accounted for the Doppler effect, the same phenomenon that changes the pitch of a passing ambulance siren.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
TMZ published photos of someone who appears to be Graham being wheeled outside of his home and into an ambulance.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
He would stand there with his punk haircut and direct the ambulance people and tell them what to do.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
"We're not about stopping ambulances being sent to patients, we're more about getting the right help to the patient at the right time," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has documented incidents of autonomous vehicles driving into active emergency scenes and blocking the paths of ambulances and firefighters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Sirens wail as ambulances and rescue vehicles race through the streets.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
Just had another 3 ambulances go past them so thinking maybe people are getting ill in the heat now.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
She was not in the garden and I went to the side door of the villa where the ambulances drove up.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
