hospitalization

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

hospitalization
    n 1: a period of time when you are confined to a hospital; "now
         they try to shorten the patient's hospitalization"
    2: the condition of being treated as a patient in a hospital;
       "he hoped to avoid the expense of hospitalization"
    3: insurance that pays all or part of a patient's hospital
       expense [syn: {hospitalization insurance}, {hospitalization}]
    4: placing in medical care in a hospital [syn:
       {hospitalization}, {hospitalisation}, {hospital care}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

hospitalisation \hospitalisation\, hospitalization
\hospitalization\n.
   medical care in a hospital; also, the period during which one
   receives care in a hospital.

   Syn: hospital care.
        [WordNet 1.5]