hospitalize

To hospitalize someone means to formally admit them to a hospital for medical care. It shows that an illness, injury, or mental health condition is serious enough to need inpatient treatment, which means the person stays in the hospital and receives ongoing care and monitoring.

The word is not simply about going to the hospital. It emphasizes becoming an admitted patient, not just visiting for a checkup or a short test. You might say, "The doctor decided to hospitalize her because of complications after surgery," or "His condition got worse quickly, and he had to be hospitalized right away."

In everyday use, people most often use this word in the passive form, such as "was hospitalized" or "were hospitalized." A doctor may decide to admit someone, or emergency workers may take someone to the hospital after a serious event. News reports often use hospitalize when describing accidents, outbreaks, violence, or other emergencies: "Over 100 people were hospitalized with food poisoning after eating at the restaurant."

So, hospitalize is a fairly formal word for putting someone in the hospital because their condition is serious enough to need more than basic or brief treatment.