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

Pros & Cons A complement to the employee-facing Zendesk for Employee Service, Zendesk for Customer Service enables your IT staff to triage and resolve incidents from external users. —John Brandon, PC Magazine, 6 Mar. 2026

Just last month, Topol noted, a paper in Nature Medicine evaluated medical triage using ChatGPT’s most advanced model. —William Warr, Time, 4 Mar. 2026

According to the employee, Levy’s boyfriend showed her multiple videos from his laptop during triage. —Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 Feb. 2026

Sanchez suggested the Memorial Auditorium, the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, the basement of Golden 1 Center and the City Hall lobby as some potential options for the triage centers. —Theresa Clift, Sacbee.com, 24 Feb. 2026

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