critical condition

noun

plural critical conditions

medical : a serious state in which an ill or injured individual has dangerously unstable or abnormal vital signs and typically requires short-term life support measures (such as mechanical respiration or defibrillation) for stabilization and support prior to or during recovery

The man sustained serious injuries and is still unconscious and in critical condition at Salina Hope Hospital.

—Ingrid Law

A 12-year-old girl was in critical condition today at Children's Hospital with the rare but often deadly hantavirus.

—The New York Times

Examples of critical condition in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Because the victim was in critical condition, an airlift was requested to transport her to the hospital while a detective with the Homestead Police Department secured her children and then spoke with them about the incident. —Chris Spargo, People.com, 23 May 2025

Police said the other two children were in critical condition. —Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 May 2025

However, the shooting comes on the heels of another in Antioch this week that left a woman in critical condition. —Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 23 May 2025

She was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center in critical condition. —Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 23 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for critical condition

• superimposition
• abolition
• acquisition
• admonition
• ammunition
• apparition
• apposition
• coalition
• competition
• composition
• definition
• deglutition

Medical Definition

critical condition

noun

: a serious medical state in which an ill or injured individual has dangerously unstable or abnormal vital signs and typically requires short-term life support measures (such as mechanical respiration or defibrillation) for stabilization and support prior to or during recovery

The safe transport of infants in critical condition requires highly reliable inter-professional transport teams that are equipped with the expertise to provide neonatal care in unfamiliar and resource-limited environments.

—Douglas M. Campbell and Rita Dadiz, Seminars in Perinatology

The large number of patients with COVID-19, suspected cases, hospitalizations, and patients in critical condition has made the medical work incredibly hard.

—Jing Huang et al., Clinical Infectious Diseases