clinic

American  

[klin-ik] / ˈklɪn ɪk /

noun

clinics plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• clinics
  plural

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

See Examples For:

clinic clinics

His family's statement said von Hagens died on Friday, a day after being admitted to a clinic in Heidelberg, Germany, with a brain haemorrhage.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

At the hearing, committee members—including pharmacists, doctors, clinic owners, academics and regulatory experts—evaluated each peptide.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

It was Prof Sheryl van Nunen who discovered the link between MMA and ticks almost 20 years ago, after noticing a correlation in patients at her Sydney allergy clinic.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

When I put that to MacDonald, she said, “I’m in clinic today, and I have 35 patients.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

His family lived close to his father’s medical clinic.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Figures are available for six walk-in clinics and can be viewed in the chart below.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Paxton’s office filed the civil lawsuit shortly after the criminal charges were announced, seeking to permanently close Rojas’ clinics and impose financial penalties.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

Some clinics call it the “wolverine compound” because of its healing properties, though New Zealand has recommended that BPC-157 is classified as a prescription drug.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Demonstrations, initially low-key in the main, began last year when undocumented foreign nationals were blocked from accessing clinics and hospitals.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

He donated money to orphanages and leprosy clinics.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Related Words

• hospital