ENGLISH
REFERENCE

ambulance

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈæmbjəɫəns// UK //ˈæmbjʊləns// am·bu·lance Archaic General-service

n. a special vehicle that carries sick or injured people to a hospital. It usually has sirens and flashing lights to move through traffic quickly.

n. a vehicle equipped for transporting the sick or injured, typically to a hospital for medical treatment. Often fitted with emergency lights and sirens to facilitate rapid transit through traffic.


SIMPLE

The ambulance arrives quickly after the accident.

CONTEXTUAL

Paramedics inside the ambulance provide emergency care to the patient while driving to the nearest trauma center.

COMPLEX

The rapid deployment of an ambulance can mean the difference between life and death in cardiac emergencies, where every second of transit time impacts the patient's prognosis.

Origin

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

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