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
Simon Finfer and Jean-Louis Vincent2
: 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 nounHeather Brookecritical-care nursing
a critical-care bed
see also critical care unit
Examples of critical care in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The hospital losing its trauma center designation means little to no change for patients coming to Mercy for emergency care, and all current hospital services — including emergency medicine, critical care and surgical care — will continue without interruption, the hospital’s statement said.
—R. Christian Smith, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2025
Over time, inhaling these harmful chemicals can contribute to progressive lung problems like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to Sanjay Sethi, MD, SUNY distinguished professor and chief of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the University at Buffalo.
—Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 16 Apr. 2025
Before working in the government, Anderson served as a pediatric critical care physician, the inaugural president of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco and chief medical officer of the University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
Pulmonary internal medicine and critical care doctor Panagis Galiatsatos said the outbreak poses a risk for adults in the more vulnerable population.
—Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for critical care
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R. Christian Smith, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2025
Over time, inhaling these harmful chemicals can contribute to progressive lung problems like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to Sanjay Sethi, MD, SUNY distinguished professor and chief of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the University at Buffalo.
—Stephanie Brown, Verywell Health, 16 Apr. 2025
Before working in the government, Anderson served as a pediatric critical care physician, the inaugural president of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco and chief medical officer of the University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
Pulmonary internal medicine and critical care doctor Panagis Galiatsatos said the outbreak poses a risk for adults in the more vulnerable population.
—Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for critical care
Cite this Entry
“Critical care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/critical%20care. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
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