critical care

noun

1
: the monitoring and treatment of critically ill or injured patients : intensive care
Critical care involves the use of life-sustaining, high-technology medicine catering to a patient population that extends to both extremes of age. In adult ICUs, the average age is increasing and is now commonly well over 60 years.Simon Finfer and Jean-Louis Vincent
2
: a designated area of a hospital providing critical care : intensive care unit
The death toll rose from six to at least 12, with scores of people needing hospital treatment and some in critical care.Heather Brooke
often hyphenated when used before another noun
critical-care nursing
a critical-care bed
see also critical care unit

Examples of critical care in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For many polio patients, the iron lung was a bridge for survival, says Dr. Daniel Salerno, a pulmonary and critical care physician, and faculty at Temple University. Caroline C. Boyle, USA TODAY, 18 Jan. 2025 The clip was posted by an emergency and critical care vet assistant, who is known on TikTok as @hachpoul. Andy Biggs, Newsweek, 25 Dec. 2024 Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, became the first American not involved in a clinical trial to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after the Pfizer-BioNTech shot was approved for use. The Arizona Republic, 14 Dec. 2024 The big picture: The reaction to Brian Thompson's killing — and the veneration by some of suspect Luigi Mangione — has revealed a deep distrust of the health insurance industry and its treatment of patients in need of critical care. April Rubin, Axios, 27 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for critical care 

Word History

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of critical care was in 1956

Dictionary Entries Near critical care

Cite this Entry

“Critical care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/critical%20care. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

critical care

noun
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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