hospital ship

noun

a ship built to serve as a hospital, especially used to treat the wounded in wartime and accorded safe passage by international law.

Origin of hospital ship

First recorded in 1675–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hospital ship

Historical Examples of hospital ship

It is not as if you had given a hospital-ship or an ambulance.
The Mystery of the Sea
Bram Stoker
The wounded had been taken on to our hospital-ship in the afternoon.
Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous, D.S.O.
J.G. Millais
He was too ill to be brought on a transport, but he may come at any time on a hospital-ship.
"Forward, March"
Kirk Munroe
Dr. Dobson, the superintendant physician of the Hospital-ship at Chatham, was a very worthy and very skilful gentleman.
A Journal of a Young Man of Massachusetts, 2nd ed.
Benjamin Waterhouse
An account of such officers and men as are on the sick list on board, or are sent to an hospital, hospital-ship, or sick-quarters.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth