hospital
Americannoun
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hospitals
plural
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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:
Miloš Forman, the director, had four or five of us sit in a semicircle, as if in a hospital group-therapy session.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
To do the latter, you need sales power and distribution infrastructure, contacts in large hospital systems and insurers, and cash to spend.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
The surgery lasted for 90 minutes, and he was discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital on 17 October.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Managing the disease can involve repeated hospital visits, medications that suppress immune activity, and sometimes surgery.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
I hobbled behind the guard into the administration barracks at the opposite end of the Lagerstrasse from the hospital.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
"If we want better roads, hospitals, schools we need to raise more tax."
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
While new hospitals offer longer-term growth opportunities, expansions of existing hospitals and daycare facilities could provide more immediate opportunities to maximize returns from existing assets, she adds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Treyz said the trigger would be “if there’s anything that actually happens from AI,” such as “if the hospitals shut down.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
To evaluate the system, the researchers examined abdominal CT scans from 219 patients treated at multiple hospitals.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
They ought to bury people in hospitals and let sick people get well in the cemeteries.
From "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel
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