EMS

American  

abbreviation

1. emergency medical service.

2. Digital Technology. enhanced message service: a system for sending long or formatted text messages, images, music, etc., from one cell phone to another.

3. European Monetary System.

4. express mail service: an international service offered by the postal operators of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

---

EMS ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. European Monetary System

2. enhanced messaging service: a system used for sending text messages containing special text formatting, animations, etc, to and from mobile phones

---

Ems ² British  

/ ɛmz /

noun

1. a town in W Germany, in the Rhineland-Palatinate: famous for the Ems Telegram (1870), Bismarck's dispatch that led to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. Pop: 9666 (2003 est)

2. a river in W Germany, rising in the Teutoburger Wald and flowing generally north to the North Sea. Length: about 370 km (230 miles)

---

Example Sentences

On the platform ClassPass, the number of venues worldwide offering EMS workouts increased by more than 16 percent between 2023 and 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

The tech is not a replacement for traditional exercise, he said, though he cited research that shows EMS may offer “modest to moderate improvements in muscle strength,” especially when combined with movement.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

German researcher Wolfgang Kemmler, who has studied the benefits of whole-body EMS since the early 2010s, calls it an option for people who are “unfamiliar with, unmotivated for, or unable to undertake” conventional workouts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

“It’s kind of like the hard disk drive story,” Fox said, explaining that EMS companies can stack different solutions and expand margins while saving end users money.

From Barron's • Dec. 29, 2025

Outside, kids waiting to board their buses formed an aisle that led to the rear of the EMS unit.

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman