ambulatory

/ˌæmbjələˈtɔri/

Other forms: ambulatories

An ambulatory surgery is the kind of procedure where the patient walks in and walks out. Ambulatory means able to walk, or related to walking.

To remember ambulatory, think of ambulance, which essentially means a walking hospital. (Its meaning derives from the time when it was pulled by horses, which would be walking.) You can also think of the old fashioned word for baby carriage, perambulator (it's been shorted to "pram") which means a carriage you push by walking.

Definitions of ambulatory

1. adjective

   able to walk about
   “the patient is ambulatory”

   synonyms: ambulant

   mobile

   moving or capable of moving readily (especially from place to place)
2. adjective

   relating to or adapted for walking
   “an ambulatory corridor”
3. noun

   a covered walkway (as in a cloister)
   “it has an ambulatory and seven chapels”

   type of:

   paseo, walk, walkway

   a path set aside for walking