triage

noun

tri·​age trē-ˈäzh  ˈtrē-ˌäzh 

1

a

: the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors

b

: the sorting of patients (as in an emergency room) according to the urgency of their need for care

2

: the assigning of priority order to projects on the basis of where funds and other resources can be best used, are most needed, or are most likely to achieve success

triage transitive verb

Examples of triage in a Sentence

Nurses do triage in the emergency room.

Recent Examples on the Web

This program tends to only have a limited amount of emergency funding available, after which point WIC administrators begin to triage support to individuals with the greatest needs. —Marley Jay, NBC News, 19 Dec. 2024

Similarly, advancements in automation and machine learning into detection response and security incident event management (SIEM) tools, among others, are able to streamline processes, triage alerts and automatically enforce additional controls for further investigation. —Jaushin Lee, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024

The organization shifted from what was an urgent triage—calling for government action—toward uplifting the legacies of folks who had passed away and taking care of this community over a long period of time. —Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 2 Dec. 2024

Nurses used a whiteboard to triage patients, placing them in beds side-by-side in pods of 12 so doctors could quickly move from one to the other. —Beth Warren, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, sorting, sifting, from trier to sort, from Old French — more at try entry 1

First Known Use

1918, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Medical Definition

triage

noun

tri·​age trē-ˈäzh  ˈtrē-ˌ 

1

: the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients and especially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors

2

: the sorting of patients (as in an emergency room) according to the urgency of their need for care

triage transitive verb