bandage
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a piece of material used to dress a wound, bind a broken limb, etc
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a strip of any soft material used for binding, etc
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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bandagernoun
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rebandageverb (used with object)
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unbandageverb (used with object)
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well-bandagedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bandagesimple
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bandagessimple
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have bandagedperfect
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has bandagedperfect
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am bandagingprogressive
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are bandagingprogressive
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is bandagingprogressive
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have been bandagingperfect progressive
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has been bandagingperfect progressive
Past
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bandagedsimple
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had bandagedperfect
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was bandagingprogressive
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were bandagingprogressive
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had been bandagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bandage
From Middle French, dating back to 1590–1600; see origin at band 2, -age
Explanation
A bandage is a piece of tape or cloth that's used to slow the flow of blood from a cut or another wound. Any good first aid kit is equipped with plenty of bandages. A bandage can vary from being a tiny plastic strip you stick on the spot where your cat scratched you to a thick, wide cloth that's applied to a serious injury at a hospital. You can also use it as a verb: "If I were you, I'd bandage that skinned knee so it doesn't get dirty." Bandage is a Middle French word, from the Old French bander, "to bind," and ultimately bande, "a strip."
Vocabulary lists containing bandage
Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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Unit 9
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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:
The caption — complete with a winking emoji blowing a kiss — accompanied a photo of the “St. Denis Medical” star wearing a bandage around her face and neck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
These stories are harsh and brief, like a bandage ripped from a wound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
But any payment is only a bandage for a deeply rigged market.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 23, 2025
My finger is now wrapped in a bandage as large as that sported by Richard Gough in the 1990 League Cup final.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
“He had a bandage on his ear, just like that. He must’ve followed me home from the park.”
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
In Pasadena, volunteers at the restaurant Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine collected supplies, issuing a special plea for bandages, gauze, painkillers and other over-the-counter medicines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
In media, a great new hire or a hard-earned bit of reader goodwill are just fresh bandages placed over a wound that must be constantly treated.
From Salon ● May 6, 2026
In hospital, with her arms wrapped in bandages, Bethany Norman held onto her baby son.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
During Greco-Roman times, Egyptian artists were called upon to inscribe funerary spells on linen mummy bandages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
I grabbed a dry one, too, and a couple of bandages, and carried them back to Stick.
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
Certainly not the one you have in mind: bandaged dead guy, ominous hieroglyphics, maybe Brendan Fraser.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
She posted a video in which she and Anderson, 61, could be seen with her fingertips bandaged up.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026
There was a sizeable police presence in the area and visibly shocked local residents were in the streets, including some with bandaged faces.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
His right hand has repeatedly appeared bandaged and bruised.
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2025
He sat down on the ground while one of the men washed the cut on Father’s head with water from a leather canteen and bandaged it with Father’s own handkerchief.
From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
Lifeguards at Bondi have been praised for their courage on the day of the December 14 attack, dragging people to safety, bandaging and resuscitating victims, and pulling panicked swimmers from the waves.
From Barron's ● Dec. 20, 2025
"The treatment of human wounds was most likely first mentioned in a medical manuscript that dates back to 2200 BC, which included cleaning, plastering, and bandaging of wounds with certain wound care substances," says Schuppli.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2024
After Bux successfully read from a book with the bandaging on, a doctor redid his blindfold.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2023
Even though I was covered in thick bandaging, my chest was now flatter than it had been in a long time.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2023
His father, in silence, began bandaging Roy’s forehead.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
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.
