bed blocker
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A hospital patient who stays longer than medically necessary
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Bệnh nhân nằm viện lâu hơn mức cần thiết về mặt y tế
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a person blocking a bed
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The elderly patient became a bed blocker due to lack of social care
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “bed blocker” mean?
A hospital patient who stays longer than medically necessary Literally: a person blocking a bed
Is “bed blocker” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.