ambulatory

American  

[am-byuh-luh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈæm bjə ləˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or capable of walking.

   an ambulatory exploration of the countryside.

2. adapted for walking, as the limbs of many animals.

3. moving about or from place to place; not stationary.

   an ambulatory tribe.

4. Medicine/Medical. Also

   1. not confined to bed; able or strong enough to walk.

      an ambulatory patient.

   2. serving patients who are able to walk.

      an ambulatory care center.

5. Law. not fixed; alterable or revocable.

   ambulatory will.

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noun

ambulatories plural

1. Also called deambulatory.  Architecture.

   1. an aisle surrounding the end of the choir or chancel of a church.

   2. the covered walk of a cloister.

ambulatory British  

/ ˈæmbjʊlətərɪ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designed for walking

2. changing position; not fixed

3. Also: ambulant.  able to walk

4. law (esp of a will) capable of being altered or revoked

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noun

1. architect

   1. an aisle running around the east end of a church, esp one that passes behind the sanctuary

   2. a place for walking, such as an aisle or a cloister

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonambulatory
  adjective
• ambulatorily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ambulatories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ambulatory

1615–25; < Latin ambulātōrius, equivalent to ambulā-, stem of ambulāre ( see amble) + -tōrius -tory ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

An ambulatory surgery is the kind of procedure where the patient walks in and walks out. Ambulatory means able to walk, or related to walking. To remember ambulatory, think of ambulance, which essentially means a walking hospital. (Its meaning derives from the time when it was pulled by horses, which would be walking.) You can also think of the old fashioned word for baby carriage, perambulator (it's been shorted to "pram") which means a carriage you push by walking.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ambulatory ambulatories

A major opportunity for the company is to expand its ambulatory infusion sites network that allows it to serve more patients with fewer clinical resources compared with its traditional home visits.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

Singapore market should stabilize by 2H, supported by the ramp-up of ambulatory care centers, medical tourism growth, and the expansion of Mount Elizabeth hospital, he adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Clinics must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 15 miles and comply with state licensure rules and the rules governing ambulatory surgical centers.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2025

Among the possible scenarios being discussed by staff was to bring in the Army during December and January for additional support on the wards and in ambulatory care.

From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025

In the view of Ramenofsky and Patricia Galloway, an anthropologist at the University of Texas, the source of contagion was very likely not De Soto’s army but its ambulatory meat locker: his three hundred pigs.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

They created ambulatories, zones of walking, like the one McLaughlin has made between the ring of columns and the outer wall.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 27, 2013

The star-flooded nights, the dew-soaked dawns, the hushed ambulatories, the enforced asceticism—never has Werner felt part of something so single-minded.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

The earlier ambulatories were open, but in the fourteenth century they had windows looking on to the cloister-court, filled with stained glass.

From English Villages by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)

Finally, for the convenience of processions, the nave and chancel aisles were carried round behind the high altar as ambulatories.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various

Gothic art was still in its infancy, and the splendid grasp of the vaulting difficulties and masterly solution of its problems exemplified in so many later ambulatories, had not as yet been reached.

From Cathedrals of Spain by John A.