- 1 a separate room or area in a hospital for people with the same type of medical condition a maternity/surgical/psychiatric/children’s, etc. ward He worked as a nurse on the children's ward. WordfinderhospitalA & E, admit, consultant, doctor, hospital, ICU, inpatient, nurse, operation, ward See related entries: Hospitals
- 2(in Britain) one of the areas into which a city is divided and which elects and is represented by a member of the local council
- 3(law) a person, especially a child, who is under the legal protection of a court or another person (called a guardian) The child was made a ward of court. See related entries: Raising children Word OriginOld English weard (originally referring to ‘the action of keeping a lookout for danger’, also ‘body of guards’), weardian ‘keep safe, guard’, of Germanic origin; reinforced in Middle English by Old Northern French warde (noun), warder (verb) ‘guard’.Extra examples How many midwives are on the ward? She spent five days in the maternity ward. The doctor was doing her morning ward round.
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