1. shallow containers used by bedridden patients for urination and defecation
Usage: medical; plural of bedpan

Examples

• The nurse collected the bedpans from the patients’ rooms.
• Hospital staff must sanitize bedpans after each use.
• The elderly patient needed assistance with the bedpan.
• Clean bedpans are stored in the medical supply closet.
• The orderly emptied and cleaned all the bedpans on the ward.
• Disposable bedpans are becoming more common in hospitals.