noun
ambulance
AM-byuh-luhns/ˈæmbjələns/
A vehicle equipped to transport sick or injured people.
The ambulance has emergency lights and an open rear with a stretcher.
Etymology
The French word named a mobile or field hospital. Its meaning shifted from the hospital to the vehicle carrying wounded people, then broadened to civilian medical transport.
In context
the injured cliff ends up in an ambulance and is taken down through the Hollywood Hills into the valley
More examples
- The ambulance arrived at the scene.
- Several ambulances waited outside the hospital.
- They moved the patient into the ambulance.
Forms
ambulance · ambulances
Similar words
- emergency vehicle
- The broader category, including vehicles not equipped for patient transport.