medevac
Americannoun
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a helicopter for evacuating the wounded from a battlefield.
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an ambulance or other vehicle equipped for emergency transport of medical patients.
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any of the trained personnel transporting or otherwise tending to the sick or wounded in a medevac.
verb (used with object)
noun
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military the evacuation of casualties from forward areas to the nearest hospital or base
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a helicopter used for transporting wounded or sick people to hospital
verb
Etymology
Origin of medevac
1965–70, med(ical) evac(uation) ; presumably by ellipsis from medevac helicopter
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.
Early Friday, a rescue helicopter and two mountaineering rangers were able to rescue the injured climber, who was later medevacked for additional care.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 27, 2024
"We were told there was a child being medevacked to Tampa General, but he was not expected to live," Blair said in a video shared by the sheriff’s office.
From Fox News • Jul. 28, 2021
“There was a Department of Defense official from the U.S. Embassy in Russia that had to be medevacked from the U.S. Embassy out of Russia,” said Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
From New York Times • Nov. 2, 2019
I have sometimes felt wobbly after an interview, but not until my hour with Jackson had I felt the need to be medevacked to safety.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2019
“But in a couple days, I had convulsions and collapsed. After this, they medevacked me to hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Germany, and then to the U.S.”
From Newsweek • Mar. 27, 2015
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.