"ambulance chaser" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "The origins of this phrase date from 1897, from newspaper articles about attorneys seeking clients through targeted mail solicitation. “Ambulance chasing” was one of the descriptive phrases employed by the media for this activity. It later became a derogatory term for direct advertising.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ambulance chasers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ambulance chaser (plural ambulance chasers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 41 25",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law",
          "orig": "en:Law",
          "parents": [
            "Justice",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 38 31",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992, Aaron Sorkin, A Few Good Men, spoken by Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore)",
          "text": "You know nothing about the law. You're a used-car salesman, Daniel. You're an ambulance chaser with a rank. You're nothing. Live with that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 July 19, Richard Lacayo, “Court and Spark: Edwards' Legal Career”, in Time",
          "text": "Republicans have tried to cast him as a millionaire ambulance chaser, the kind of man who forces doctors and businesses to pay ever higher liability-insurance costs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An unethical attorney who solicits business at the scenes of accidents or in hospitals, in exchange for a percentage of the damages that will be recovered in the case."
      ],
      "id": "en-ambulance_chaser-en-noun-w9UUF~s~",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "unethical",
          "unethical"
        ],
        [
          "attorney",
          "attorney"
        ],
        [
          "accidents",
          "accidents"
        ],
        [
          "hospitals",
          "hospitals"
        ],
        [
          "damages",
          "damages"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory) An unethical attorney who solicits business at the scenes of accidents or in hospitals, in exchange for a percentage of the damages that will be recovered in the case."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 41 25",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law",
          "orig": "en:Law",
          "parents": [
            "Justice",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 38 31",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An attorney who engages in unethical behavior."
      ],
      "id": "en-ambulance_chaser-en-noun-2W1rCpAZ",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) An attorney who engages in unethical behavior."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "34 20 45",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 14 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 17 55",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 41 25",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law",
          "orig": "en:Law",
          "parents": [
            "Justice",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 38 31",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An unethical funeral director or person who engages in the unlicensed sale of services to those who do not yet require them in an attempt to increase business."
      ],
      "id": "en-ambulance_chaser-en-noun-fmfBnAvy",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "unethical",
          "unethical"
        ],
        [
          "funeral director",
          "funeral director"
        ],
        [
          "engage",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "unlicensed",
          "unlicensed"
        ],
        [
          "sale",
          "sale"
        ],
        [
          "require",
          "require"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory) An unethical funeral director or person who engages in the unlicensed sale of services to those who do not yet require them in an attempt to increase business."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "22 27 51",
          "word": "ambulance chasing"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ambulance chaser"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "en:Law",
    "en:People"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The origins of this phrase date from 1897, from newspaper articles about attorneys seeking clients through targeted mail solicitation. “Ambulance chasing” was one of the descriptive phrases employed by the media for this activity. It later became a derogatory term for direct advertising.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "ambulance chasers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "ambulance chaser (plural ambulance chasers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "ambulance chasing"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992, Aaron Sorkin, A Few Good Men, spoken by Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore)",
          "text": "You know nothing about the law. You're a used-car salesman, Daniel. You're an ambulance chaser with a rank. You're nothing. Live with that.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004 July 19, Richard Lacayo, “Court and Spark: Edwards' Legal Career”, in Time",
          "text": "Republicans have tried to cast him as a millionaire ambulance chaser, the kind of man who forces doctors and businesses to pay ever higher liability-insurance costs.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An unethical attorney who solicits business at the scenes of accidents or in hospitals, in exchange for a percentage of the damages that will be recovered in the case."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "unethical",
          "unethical"
        ],
        [
          "attorney",
          "attorney"
        ],
        [
          "accidents",
          "accidents"
        ],
        [
          "hospitals",
          "hospitals"
        ],
        [
          "damages",
          "damages"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory) An unethical attorney who solicits business at the scenes of accidents or in hospitals, in exchange for a percentage of the damages that will be recovered in the case."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "An attorney who engages in unethical behavior."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) An attorney who engages in unethical behavior."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English derogatory terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An unethical funeral director or person who engages in the unlicensed sale of services to those who do not yet require them in an attempt to increase business."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "unethical",
          "unethical"
        ],
        [
          "funeral director",
          "funeral director"
        ],
        [
          "engage",
          "engage"
        ],
        [
          "unlicensed",
          "unlicensed"
        ],
        [
          "sale",
          "sale"
        ],
        [
          "require",
          "require"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory) An unethical funeral director or person who engages in the unlicensed sale of services to those who do not yet require them in an attempt to increase business."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "ambulance chaser"
}