recovery room

American

noun

a room near the operating or delivery room of a hospital, equipped with specific apparatus and staffed by specially trained personnel for emergencies, used for the recovery from anesthesia of a postoperative or obstetrical patient before being brought to a hospital room or ward.

Etymology

Origin of recovery room

First recorded in 1915–20

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.

For the ultimate in relaxation, there is a recovery room equipped with a sauna, cold plunge, and hot tub.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 14, 2025

“Any abortion recovery room I’ve ever been in has the good tea,” Krajewski told me, adding that it’s usually staff who pay for these refreshments since clinics often operate on shoestring budgets.

From Slate • Sep. 7, 2025

When my dad watched me break down in the recovery room, he relaxed.

From Salon • Oct. 17, 2023

In the recovery room, the TV was turned to the World Ironman Championships.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2023

We were having this conversation on a fine summer evening, sitting out on the little balcony of her recovery room.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023