foundling hospital

noun

1. an institutional home for foundlings.

Word History and Origins

Origin of foundling hospital¹

First recorded in 1750–60

Example Sentences

This was the case even with the presence of foundling hospitals, where women could safely abandon babies.

From Washington Post

Eighteenth-century parents adopted Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideas about “natural” parenting—cold air is good for a child!—even though he’d left all five of his children at a foundling hospital.

From The New Yorker

In this case, our heroine was a feisty little girl, and the place she longed to escape was a foundling hospital in Victorian England.

From New York Times

He rented babies from foundling hospitals for photo shoots and personal appearances, and the crowds went crazy.

From BBC

She is sent off to the foundling hospital, where she is scolded harshly by fierce matrons and mocked for her bright red hair.

From The Guardian