ambulance
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- //ˈæmbjᵿl(ə)n(t)s//
- //ˈæm.bjə.ləns//
- //ˈæm.bjəˌlæns//
- //ˈæm.bəˌlæns//
An emergency vehicle designed for transporting seriously ill or injured people to a hospital.
noun
- 1
An emergency vehicle designed for transporting seriously ill or injured people to a hospital.
The NHS is bracing itself for its worst ever winter crisis descending in the next fortnight because of a worsening “flu-nami” that has left hospitals, GP surgeries and ambulances services under intense strain.
- 2
A mobile field hospital.
- 3
A vehicle used for the transportation of dead people, typically to a mortuary.
- 4
obsoleteSynonym of stretcher, a litter used for medical transport.
- 5
obsoleteSynonym of covered wagon.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts? Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰíder. Proto-Italic *amβi- Latin ambi- Proto-Indo-European *h₂elh₂-der. Proto-Italic *alō Latin *alō Latin ambulō Proto-Indo-European *-onts Latin -ns Latin ambulānsbor. French ambulant ▲ Latin -ns Latin -āns Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin -āntia Old French -ance Middle French -ance French -ance French ambulancebor. English ambulance Borrowed from French ambulance, which replaced hôpital ambulant (“moving hospital”) via the suffix -ance, from Latin ambulō (“to walk; to go about”).
verb
- 1
To transport by ambulance.
Ambulancing patients with acute obstruction over cobble and rails should not be tolerated; better render the necessary service where the patient is found.
Forms
- plural
- ambulances
- past tense
- ambulanced
- past participle
- ambulanced
- present participle
- ambulancing
- third person singular
- ambulances
ambulance · An emergency vehicle designed for transporting seriously ill or injured people to a hospital.
ambush · The act of concealing oneself and lying in wait to attack or…ambushed · Having been the target of an ambush.amelia · The congenital absence of one or more limbs.