# ambulance

Pronunciation: say "AM-byuh-luhns" /ˈæm.bjə.ləns/

## Noun

1. An emergency vehicle equipped to carry seriously ill or injured people to a hospital.
   - Simple: A special vehicle that quickly takes hurt or very sick people to a hospital.
   - _The ambulance weaved through traffic with its sirens blaring._
   - _Paramedics loaded the patient into the ambulance and sped off._
3. A mobile field hospital that travels with an army to treat the sick and wounded near a battlefield.
   - Simple: A medical unit that moves with an army to treat wounded soldiers near the fighting.
   - _The regiment's ambulance followed the troops, ready to receive casualties from the day's battle._
   - _Field surgeons operated continuously at the ambulance pitched just beyond artillery range._
4. A vehicle used to transport dead people, typically to a mortuary. *(UK)*
   - Simple: A vehicle used to carry dead bodies, usually to a place where the dead are kept.
   - _After the coroner finished, the ambulance carried the remains to the mortuary._
   - _The undertaker waited for the ambulance to arrive and remove the body._

## Verb

2. To transport someone to a hospital or medical facility by ambulance.
   - Simple: To carry a sick or hurt person somewhere using an ambulance.
   - _The marines ambulanced the wounded soldier to a base hospital._
   - _Crews will ambulance any casualties to the regional trauma center._

## Noun

5. A stretcher or litter used to carry the sick or injured for medical transport. *(obsolete, UK)*
   - Simple: A flat frame with handles, used to carry a hurt person who cannot walk.
6. A covered wagon, typically one fitted with an arched canvas cover and drawn by animals. *(obsolete, US)*
   - Simple: A wagon with a cloth or canvas top, pulled by animals, used to carry people and goods.
   - _The officers' wives traveled across the territory in an ambulance drawn by four mules._
   - _Dust trailed behind the ambulance as it rolled toward the fort._

## Origin

Borrowed from French ambulance, which replaced hôpital ambulant ("moving hospital") using the suffix -ance, from Latin ambulō ("to walk; to go about").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ambulance (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).