clinic

American  

[klin-ik] / ˈklɪn ɪk /

noun

1. a place, as in connection with a medical school or a hospital, for the treatment of nonresident patients, sometimes at low cost or without charge.

2. a group of physicians, dentists, or the like, working in cooperation and sharing the same facilities.

3. a class or group convening for instruction or remedial work or for the diagnosis and treatment of specific problems.

   a reading clinic; a speech clinic; a summer baseball clinic for promising young players.

4. the instruction of medical students by examining or treating patients in their presence or by their examining or treating patients under supervision.

5. a class of students assembled for such instruction.

6. Sports Slang. a performance so thoroughly superior by a team or player as to be a virtual model or demonstration of excellence; rout or mismatch.

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adjective

1. of a clinic; clinical.

clinic British  

/ ˈklɪnɪk /

noun

1. a place in which outpatients are given medical treatment or advice, often connected to a hospital

2. a similar place staffed by physicians or surgeons specializing in one or more specific areas

   eye clinic

3. a private hospital or nursing home

4. obsolete the teaching of medicine to students at the bedside

5. a place in which medical lectures are given

6. a clinical lecture

7. a group or centre that offers advice or instruction

   a vocational clinic

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Etymology

Origin of clinic

1620–30; 1885–90 clinic for def. 1; < Latin clīnicus < Greek klīnikós pertaining to a (sick) bed, equivalent to klī́n ( ē ) bed + -ikos -ic

Explanation

A clinic is a doctor's office, particularly one that specializes in one kind of medicine. After you're diagnosed with a broken leg, you may be referred to an orthopedic clinic. Sometimes the word clinic is used when a medical office isn't a hospital or a private doctor's office. Some clinics help patients who don't need to be hospitalized, or have been released from a hospital, but still need specialized care. Other kinds of clinics provide dental care or immunizations. Clinic is from the Latin clinicus, "physician that visits patients in their beds," with the Greek root klinike, "at the sickbed."

Example Sentences

After graduating, she began practicing conventional Western medicine at a clinic by day, and needling animals in their living rooms on evenings and weekends.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026

Back when Danielle Howa Pendergrass founded her own women’s health clinic in Price, Utah, in 2012, she says it was one of only two such clinics anywhere near her remote hometown.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026

Sienna was referred to a child development clinic and placed on a priority waiting list because her mum said she had effectively been "missed and overlooked" during Covid-19.

From BBC • May 16, 2026

They include a requirement that women obtain the pills directly from a doctor or a medical clinic.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026

In addition to starting the clinic, Farmer’s organization had also raised funds to build schools, houses, and communal sanitation and water systems.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• hospital