ambulance
Ambulance (noun) means a vehicle equipped to carry sick or injured people to a hospital, usually with emergency medical staff aboard. Example: “The ambulance arrived within minutes and rushed him to the emergency room.”
How to use ambulance
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe emergency vehicle used to rush sick or injured people to hospital.
Word forms
ambulanced past tense, ambulances plural, ambulances singular
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
The _____ arrived within minutes and rushed him to the emergency room.
Etymology
Borrowed from French ambulance, shortened from hopital ambulant ("mobile hospital"), from Latin ambulare, "to walk about".
Rhymes for ambulance
See all rhymes for ambulance →Frequently asked questions
What does “ambulance” mean?
The word “ambulance” means a vehicle equipped to carry sick or injured people to a hospital, usually with emergency medical staff aboard. In plain terms, the emergency vehicle used to rush sick or injured people to hospital.
How do you pronounce “ambulance”?
“Ambulance” is pronounced AM-byuh-luhns (/ˈæm.bjə.ləns/ in IPA).
How do you use “ambulance” in a sentence?
Here is “ambulance” used in a sentence: “The ambulance arrived within minutes and rushed him to the emergency room.”
What part of speech is “ambulance”?
“Ambulance” is a noun.
Where does the word “ambulance” come from?
The word “ambulance” comes from Latin. Borrowed from French ambulance, shortened from hopital ambulant ("mobile hospital"), from Latin ambulare, "to walk about".
Is “ambulance” a common word?
“Ambulance” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.
What is the difference between an ambulance and a paramedic?
An ambulance is the vehicle equipped to carry sick or injured people to hospital, while a paramedic is a trained emergency medical professional who often staffs it. In everyday speech people sometimes say the ambulance arrived when they mean the crew.
Why is ambulance written backwards on the front of the vehicle?
The word ambulance is often printed mirror-reversed on the front of the vehicle so that drivers ahead can read it correctly in their rear-view mirrors. This helps them identify the vehicle quickly and move aside.
Is it call an ambulance or call for an ambulance?
Both are grammatical, but call an ambulance is the more common, direct phrase in an emergency. Call for an ambulance slightly emphasises the request being made to the emergency service rather than the vehicle itself.
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