Yoong Liat  +  289449 Sun, 05 Nov 06 11:45 AM Can we say 'The injured man is warded at Tan Tock Seng Hospital?' I often see 'ward' being used as a verb in our newspapers. Yoong Liat Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006 Veteran Member 6,757 Verbs

	Clive  +  289485 Sun, 05 Nov 06 02:54 PM Hi, I've never seen or heard this. To my N. American ear, it sounds very odd indeed. I've noticed that newspapers often seem to 'invent' new usages, often in the interests of brevity, that no-one else ever seems to adopt. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,612 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

	Marius Hancu  +  289510 Sun, 05 Nov 06 04:25 PM I've made a search on BBC-related sites, and it seems that the only similar usage is coming from non-native speakers. Thus avoid it. ward can be a transitive verb, but the meaning 1 here isn't the same as in your sentence (wrt to hospitals). ------- ward    transitive verb 1 : to keep watch over : keep in safety or custody : serve as guard, guardian, or protector for <a warden's business is to ward the people who are put in his charge -- Phil Stong> <the bald mountains that ward the Cap Rock -- Margaret Cousins> 2 a : to fend off (a blow or weapon) : PARRY -- usually used with off <shields his face with one arm ... to ward off a blow -- Inez Karma & Gilbert Millstein> b : to turn aside (something threatening or harmful) : DEFLECT -- usually used with off <a magic charm to ward off evil -- M.J.Herskovits> <our nation has warded off all enemies -- D.D.Eisenhower> http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com --------------- Marius Hancu Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006 Veteran Member 11,673 Verbs, Images

	Yoong Liat  +  289511 Sun, 05 Nov 06 04:27 PM  Marius Hancu wrote: Made a search on BBC-related sites, and it seems that the only similar usage is coming from non-native speakers. Thus avoid it. Thanks. Noted. Yoong Liat

	Yoong Liat  +  289705 Mon, 06 Nov 06 05:34 AM Marius wrote: I've made a search on BBC-related sites, and it seems that the only similar usage is coming from non-native speakers. Out of curiosity, this morning I referred to The New Oxford Dictionary of English, which was published in 1998, and was surprised to find "ward" defined as "admit (a patient) to hospital".  I often see 'ward' being used as a verb in our newspapers long before 1998. Yoong Liat Verbs