Meanings
plural wambulances · alternative waaambulance · alternative waambulance · alternative wahmbulance · alternative whambulance
- idiomaticslangA notional ambulance called to the scene when somebody is upset; used in dismissive responses to complaining perceived as being oversensitive.
Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis): Waaaaaah. Waaaaaaah. Somebody call the wambulance.
2000, Disney's The Kid2 more examples
Someone call the Wambulance. Dudley I am so sick of hearing you bitch about how everybody is not suffering enough.
2001, jim, “Outrageous!!!”, in rec.aviation.piloting (Usenet)Funny how we didn't see a single post in this NG from "Ron" or Holder during the game. Not surprising, but funny anyway. I'm sure they'll surface sometime. As a precaution, I've already called the wambulance for them.
2007, Rodney Parker, “What a game!”, in alt.sports.football.pro.dallas-cowboys (Usenet)
Origin
- Englishwah
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts?
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂m̥bʰí
- Proto-Italic*amβi-
- Latinambi-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂elh₂-
- Proto-Italic*alō
- Latin*alō
- Latinambulō
- Latinambulān
- Frenchambulant
- Frenchambulance
- Englishambulance
- Englishwambulance
Blend of wah + ambulance. The earliest known usage appears in the Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
wambulance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wambulance
“wambulance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wambulance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wambulance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wambulance.
Source: wambulance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.