hospital pass
- noun
- UK
:
pase hospitalario
- He gave me a hospital pass during the game, and I was tackled immediately.
Examples
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In the meeting, she handed her colleague a real hospital pass by assigning him the toughest questions.
-
Taking over the failing project felt like accepting a hospital pass from management.
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That was a risky hospital pass!
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He made a terrible hospital pass during the match.
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He gave me a hospital pass during the game, and I was tackled immediately.
-
In the meeting, she handed her colleague a real hospital pass by assigning him the toughest questions.
-
Taking over the failing project felt like accepting a hospital pass from management.
Synonyms
43
7.1
A serious and difficult situation that needs help
How Dangerous
66
4.3
- UK
Surface Forms
Morphology
The component meanings ('hospital' = medical care / serious injury risk; 'pass' = an act of passing) allow a learner to infer that the phrase refers to a pass likely to cause harm or hospitalisation, so there is a clear compositional cue. However, the specific idiomatic/sports sense — a pass that leaves the receiver vulnerable to injury or criticism — is a specialized, conventionalized usage and not fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure.
Etymology
Hospital pass comes from team sports: a player makes a pass that leaves the next player exposed and often hit hard, so they may have to go to a hospital. That's why the phrase now means 'a risky action or task that puts someone in a very vulnerable or dangerous position'.