Meanings
- derogatoryfigurativelyA futile or post factum answer to a problem.
But such a service could be seen as an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff.
2002 April 29, Julie Middleton, “Degree cheats graduate to big time”, in The New Zealand Herald2 more examples
Funny place for the social, for the insects to start caring / Just an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff
1994, “Yes”, in The Holy Bible, performed by Manic Street PreachersA school with a poor intake is like an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff: sometimes, it can pick up the children and patch up the damage; most of the time, it's too late.
1999 September 14, Nick Davies, “Crisis, crisis, crisis: the state of our schools”, in The Guardian
Origin
A variation on the Joseph Malins' 1895 poem "The ambulance down in the valley," where the need for an ambulance would be removed by a fence on the cliff.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
ambulance at the bottom of a cliff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambulance%20at%20the%20bottom%20of%20a%20cliff
“ambulance at the bottom of a cliff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambulance%20at%20the%20bottom%20of%20a%20cliff. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ambulance at the bottom of a cliff,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ambulance%20at%20the%20bottom%20of%20a%20cliff.
Source: ambulance at the bottom of a cliff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.