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.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hospital beds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hospital bed

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hospital bed

Then, on Tuesday, I got a photo of her in a hospital bed, and I cried because I guess I hadn’t realized she could get thinner.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

The video, which Wilkinson played to open the trial, showed the woman in her hospital bed admitting that she was warned of the dangers of the medication.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

A sobbing girl, no more than six years old, sat alone on a hospital bed, her family yet to visit.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

According to the Centre for Mental Health the average secure hospital bed costs around £270,000 a year.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

And next to it lay El Patron in a hospital bed.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer