hospital bed

American  

noun

hospital beds plural

1. a bed having side rails that can be raised or lowered and a mattress base in three jointed sections so that the head, foot, or middle may be raised by a crank or motor, allowing a patient to lie in various positions, as a therapeutic aid or for comfort.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hospital beds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hospital bed

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Lynn Damiano Pearson, senior staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, called the guards’ extended presence in the hospital lobby “a pretty unusual situation.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2025

The state’s hospital lobby recently highlighted discharge delays as a growing problem costing the industry $2.9 billion a year.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 20, 2023

A choir group could host a concert in a hospital lobby without violating the law, or a community organization could serve hospital staffers an appreciation lunch.

From Salon • Jan. 15, 2023

For an audience, a handful of doctors and nurses watched from a cool white hospital lobby.

From New York Times • Sep. 15, 2022

Then again, if I were regular old Mia, Brooke Vega would not be in this hospital lobby as part of some great ruse to get Adam in to see me.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman