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.
When she got out of the family SUV, Ian Cramer took the wheel and drove through a door to get out of the enclosed ambulance bay at the hospital’s emergency department.
From Washington Times • Dec. 7, 2023
When I was in graduate school, I briefly lived in a cheap apartment catty-corner to the university hospital ambulance bay.
From Salon • Jun. 21, 2023
Smith’s lawyer, Elliot Shields, said it started outside after the investigator parked in the ambulance bay.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 19, 2022
He knows every inch of tarmac in the hospital's ambulance bay, because that is where he spends most of his time.
From BBC • Aug. 10, 2021
“I ran out to the ambulance bay to take the call,” Ms. McClay said.
From New York Times • Dec. 11, 2020
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.
