: a shallow vessel used by a bedridden person for urination or defecation
Examples of bedpan in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
As the population ages, mass quantities of skills will indeed be needed—most of all by people getting paid below minimum wage to empty bedpans, make small talk with the ailing, and manage their pain.
—
Lily Scherlis, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
Older women with boyfriends, yes; older women with bedpans, no.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024
Tawse had decorated the hospital bedpans in red, white and blue tape, a small symbol of the excitement greeting 27-year-old Elizabeth as the new head of the royal family on the brink of a technicolor age.
—Reuters, ABC News, 2 May 2023
Ricky, 46, says he was routinely cursed and yelled at by an elderly client and has never been paid as much as minimum wage for changing bedpans and diapers, among other chores.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2023
See All Example Sentences for bedpan
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Lily Scherlis, Harper's Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
Older women with boyfriends, yes; older women with bedpans, no.
—Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024
Tawse had decorated the hospital bedpans in red, white and blue tape, a small symbol of the excitement greeting 27-year-old Elizabeth as the new head of the royal family on the brink of a technicolor age.
—Reuters, ABC News, 2 May 2023
Ricky, 46, says he was routinely cursed and yelled at by an elderly client and has never been paid as much as minimum wage for changing bedpans and diapers, among other chores.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2023
See All Example Sentences for bedpan
Cite this Entry
“Bedpan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bedpan. Accessed 29 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
bedpan
noun
bed·pan
ˈbed-ˌpan 
: a shallow pan for use as a toilet by a person forced to stay in bed
Medical Definition
bedpan
noun
bed·pan
ˈbed-ˌpan
: a shallow vessel used by a bedridden person for urination or defecation
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