hospital
Americannoun
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an institution in which sick or injured people are given medical or surgical treatment.
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a similar establishment for the care of animals.
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a repair shop for specific portable objects: doll hospital.
violin hospital;
doll hospital.
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British. an institution supported by charity or taxes for people in need of care, as a children's home or nursing home.
noun
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an institution for the medical, surgical, obstetric, or psychiatric care and treatment of patients
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(modifier) having the function of a hospital
a hospital ship
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a repair shop for something specified
a dolls' hospital
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archaic a charitable home, hospice, or school
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hospital
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English (h)ospital, “lodging for pilgrims and travelers, hostel,” Old French (h)ospital, from Medieval Latin hospitāle “guesthouse, inn,” noun use of neuter of Latin hospitālis “hospitable,” equivalent to hospit- stem of hospes “guest, visitor, host” + -ālis -al 1 ( def. ); see also hospitium
Explanation
A hospital is the place to go when you're very sick or injured in a way that requires immediate treatment. If you trip over your shoelaces and break your arm, you'll need to go to the hospital. People having surgery or delivering a baby usually go to a hospital, and if you suspect you have food poisoning, you might visit the emergency room of a hospital. Hospitals are staffed by doctors and nurses, as well as office workers, cleaners, and aides of various kinds. The earliest hospitals were shelters or needy people, or hostels for travelers, and the word comes from the Late Latin hospitale, "guest house or inn."
Vocabulary lists containing hospital
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Either way, physicians say that people experiencing these events should call 911 or go directly to the hospital.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
McConnell was admitted to the hospital on June 14 and his office did not provide any further details for weeks, repeatedly saying only that he was "receiving excellent care."
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Last month, he was named to the board of a hospital by Nairobi governor Jonathan Sakaja.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
The Chinese government has confirmed Chao met Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng in Beijing on 17 June, three days after McConnell was admitted to hospital.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Pickwick said that the German doctor in charge of the prison hospital was a humane man who occasionally arranged a medical discharge.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The research team is preparing larger clinical studies involving multiple hospitals while modifying the antenna for additional organs, including the heart and kidneys.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
The long-vacant site has become a magnet for so-called urban explorers, who prowl abandoned malls, hospitals, power plants, amusement parks, factories and any other disused structure they can breach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
A woman, child and man were wounded and taken to hospitals, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
At the time, the World Health Organization called for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
One of Chicago’s main hospitals was four or five blocks away, down toward the lakefront.
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
