ambulatory [am -byuh -luh -tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] adjective of, relating to, or capable of walking: an ambulatory exploration of the countryside.
adapted for walking, as the limbs of many animals.
moving about or from place to place; not stationary: an ambulatory tribe.
Also ambulant . Medicine/Medical not confined to bed; able or strong enough to walk: an ambulatory patient. serving patients who are able to walk: an ambulatory care center. Law not fixed; alterable or revocable: ambulatory will.
noun, plural am·bu·la·to·ries. Also called deambulatory . Architecture an aisle surrounding the end of the choir or chancel of a church. the covered walk of a cloister. Origin of ambulatory 1615–25; <
Latin ambulātōrius, equivalent to
ambulā-, stem of
ambulāre (see
amble ) +
-tōrius -tory1 Related forms am·bu·la·to·ri·ly , adverb non·am·bu·la·to·ry , adjective, noun, plural non·am·bu·la·to·ries. Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for ambulatory Contemporary Examples of ambulatory The firefighters did not want the ambulatory passengers to chance onto an electrified rail or encounter some other hazard.
Piscitelli found out just how bad it had been when he counted the number of ambulatory survivors who came back with the dawn.
If it's dead, it's undead, like the culture at large: ambulatory in the age of Twilight.
Historical Examples of ambulatory He had met her by chance in the ambulatory on her way from Brother Bonaday's rooms.
The poet is greater than man: he is nature on two legs,—ambulatory .
It consists of a choir and ambulatory , transepts, and three bays of a nave.
There is a central apse, an ambulatory , out of which radiate five chapels.
He is said to have introduced into Normandy the ambulatory and its radiating chapels.
British Dictionary definitions for ambulatory adjective of, relating to, or designed for walking
changing position; not fixed
Also: ambulant able to walk
law (esp of a will) capable of being altered or revoked
Show More
noun plural -ries architect an aisle running around the east end of a church, esp one that passes behind the sanctuary a place for walking, such as an aisle or a cloister Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ambulatory adj. "pertaining to walking;" also "shifting, not permanent," 1620s, from Latin ambulatorius "of or pertaining to a walker; movable," from ambulator , agent noun from past participle stem of ambulare "to walk" (see amble ). Middle English had ambulary "movable" (mid-15c.).
Show More
n. from Medieval Latin ambulatorium , from Latin ambulatorius "movable," from ambulare (see amble ).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ambulatory [ăm′ byə-lə-tôr′ē]
adj. Of, relating to, or adapted for walking.
Capable of walking; not bedridden.
Moving about.
Of or relating to medical care or services provided on an outpatient basis.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
