Meaning & use
hospitalization
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablemedical
The act of admitting someone to a hospital for treatment, or the time they spend there.
Grammar: Uncountable for the general idea: hospitalization was necessary; countable for a stay: two hospitalizations this year.
Patterns
- require hospitalization
- hospitalization for something
The fall led to a week of hospitalization.
Her insurance covers hospitalization but not home care.
He had three hospitalizations before the age of ten.
noununcountabletechnical
The number or rate of people admitted to hospital for a condition, used in health data.
Grammar: Used without an or a when discussing numbers: hospitalization dropped sharply.
Patterns
- hospitalization rates
- hospitalization among something
Hospitalization among children rose during the flu season.
The study measured hospitalization before and after the program.
Rates of hospitalization differ by region.
Word forms
| plural | hospitalizations |
|---|
Common combinations
- require hospitalization
- Most patients will not require hospitalization.
- prevent hospitalization
- Vaccines help prevent hospitalization.
- hospitalization costs
- Hospitalization costs can be very high.
- hospitalization rate
- The hospitalization rate fell last year.
- avoid hospitalization
- Early treatment helped him avoid hospitalization.
Synonyms and how they differ
- admission
- Admission refers to the moment of being taken in, while hospitalization covers the whole stay too.
- inpatient care
- Inpatient care names the treatment given, while hospitalization names the fact of being in hospital.
- hospital stay
- Hospital stay is plainer and more everyday, while hospitalization sounds more clinical.
Opposites
Word family
- hospitalize verb
- to admit someone to a hospital
- hospitalized adjective
- admitted to or treated in a hospital
- hospital noun
- a place for treating the sick and injured
- rehospitalization noun
- being admitted again after discharge
Commonly confused: hospitalization or hospitality? hospitalization or hospitalisation?
hospitalization vs hospitality
Hospitality is friendly treatment of guests or the hotel and restaurant industry, and has nothing to do with medical care.
hospitalization vs hospitalisation
Hospitalisation is the British spelling of the same word.
Practice
Which sentence uses hospitalization correctly?
Choose one answer.
Hospitalization names a stay in hospital. The other options confuse it with hospitality or use it as a verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hospitalization”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.