ambulate

American  

[am-byuh-leyt] / ˈæm bjəˌleɪt /

verb (used without object)

ambulated, ambulating

1. to walk about or move from place to place.

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ambulate British  

/ ˈæmbjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. (intr) to wander about or move from one place to another

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Other Word Forms

• ambulation
  noun
• ambulator
  noun

Etymology

Origin of ambulate

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin ambulātus (past participle of ambulāre “to walk”), equivalent to ambul- ( see amble) + -ātus past participle suffix ( see -ate ¹)

Explanation

To ambulate is simply to move, especially by walking. You might ambulate proudly down the halls of your high school, hoping everyone notices your new red cowboy boots. Use the verb ambulate when you need a technical or formal way to talk about someone moving by their own power. A hospital patient might be relieved to finally ambulate on her crutches after breaking her leg, and three-legged dogs usually manage to ambulate perfectly well without the missing limb. The Latin root of ambulate is ambulare, "to walk."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ambulate ambulated ambulating

“I’m generally very cautious about starting a GLP-1 in my older adult patients who have functional impairments, like needing a walker to ambulate or needing assistance with transferring from a bed to a chair.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were ambulate, ambulette and mutable.

From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

The officer noted in her police report that Peterman was unarmed and used a walker to ambulate, the charges say.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2022

“Scooting is the only way he could ambulate independently,” she explained.

From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2017

And maybe she could even ambulate his clothing and his boots and send him home, where he could wake up in the loving embrace of his family.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

But when the show’s first Hamlet, ambulated by an Oxford-trained actor named Dipo Ola, performs a few lines, he’s instantly more compelling than the sight of ParTeb shaking his rump.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 2025

I may well have promenaded, pedestrianized, peregrinated, ambulated, perambulated, circumambulated, hoofed, and locomoted ...

From Time Magazine Archive

When she gets ambulating with her walker, it is hard to keep up with her.

From New York Times ● Jan. 4, 2019

There are people clomping along with one foot immobilized in a big plastic boot or ambulating with one leg bent at the knee and resting on a wheeled contraption.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2015

“He is ambulating independently on crutches and working hard with physical therapy toward a full recovery, which we anticipate will occur in several months’ time,” Burke said in a statement.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 12, 2015

"He is ambulating independently on crutches and working hard with physical therapy toward a full recovery, which we anticipate will occur in several months' time," Burke said in a statement.

From US News ● Jun. 12, 2015

Sheep became bumpily sheathed with the stuff so that they looked like big ambulating wasp nests; birds, having absorbed the zoquete in their feathers, labored erratically through the air, almost unable to fly.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols