Health / B2

WORD/wɔːd/

A ward is a hospital room for patients, a local voting area, or a child in someone’s legal care: a children’s ward; a council ward. Room is too general; constituency is a larger electoral area. The case study compared waiting times on a ward. Verb: ward off (keep away). Mix-up: award is a prize (already elsewhere); word is a unit of language. Do not call a whole hospital a ward.

Meaning

A room in a hospital for patients; also a local voting area, or a child in someone’s care.

Examples

• “The health case study compared waiting times on a children’s ward.”
• “Turnout was lowest in the riverside ward, which is the electoral sense.”

Good to know

a hospital ward; an electoral ward; a ward of court. Verb: ward off. Trap: award / word. Health, politics, and law. Room, district, or child in care.

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