EMS

American  

abbreviation

1. emergency medical service.

2. Digital Technology. enhanced message service: a system for sending long or formatted text messages, images, music, etc., from one cell phone to another.

3. European Monetary System.

4. express mail service: an international service offered by the postal operators of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

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EMS ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. European Monetary System

2. enhanced messaging service: a system used for sending text messages containing special text formatting, animations, etc, to and from mobile phones

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Ems ² British  

/ ɛmz /

noun

1. a town in W Germany, in the Rhineland-Palatinate: famous for the Ems Telegram (1870), Bismarck's dispatch that led to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. Pop: 9666 (2003 est)

2. a river in W Germany, rising in the Teutoburger Wald and flowing generally north to the North Sea. Length: about 370 km (230 miles)

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Example Sentences

One of her regulars, Max Auth, got into EMS training after an ankle injury kept him from pole dancing, his preferred form of exercise.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Many women in particular, aware of the importance of strength training after menopause, are curious if EMS could be their new resistance workout.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Because EMS lacks familiar markers for exhaustion—it’s hard to gauge effort with involuntary muscle contractions—people can unwittingly overdo it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

That can lead to rhabdomyolysis, a severe muscle breakdown caused by overexertion that can result in kidney failure, said Francisco J. Amaro Gahete, a leading researcher focused on whole-body EMS.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Outside, kids waiting to board their buses formed an aisle that led to the rear of the EMS unit.

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman