intensive care
noun
1
: the continuous monitoring and treatment of critically ill or injured patients using special medical facilities, equipment, and services
Many of the sickest patients need intensive care, even to the point of being connected to a mechanical respirator.—
Lawrence K. Altman
Lawrence K. Altman2
: a designated area in a hospital providing intensive care : intensive care unit
heart patients in intensive care
… short of breath and feverish, doctors isolated him in intensive care.—Elisabeth Rosenthal
—often hyphenated when used before another nounElisabeth Rosenthalan intensive-care nurse
Examples of intensive care in a Sentence
Her condition will require intensive care.
Recent Examples on the Web
So, the seven of them all chose a shift in the intensive care unit, at a hospital in Dublin, Calif.
—Ryan Katz, NPR, 21 July 2025
The triplets also went through their own health ordeals and had to stay in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for about two months.
—Nicholas Rice, People.com, 19 July 2025
Shepherd said that for rural hospitals, labor, delivery, and obstetrics are often cut first due to lower birth rates in rural areas, while mental health services and intensive care units could also be stripped back.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 July 2025
The resident was resuscitated by paramedics and admitted to the intensive care unit, the report said.
—Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for intensive care
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Ryan Katz, NPR, 21 July 2025
The triplets also went through their own health ordeals and had to stay in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for about two months.
—Nicholas Rice, People.com, 19 July 2025
Shepherd said that for rural hospitals, labor, delivery, and obstetrics are often cut first due to lower birth rates in rural areas, while mental health services and intensive care units could also be stripped back.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 July 2025
The resident was resuscitated by paramedics and admitted to the intensive care unit, the report said.
—Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for intensive care
Cite this Entry
“Intensive care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intensive%20care. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
intensive care
1 of 2 noun1
: the continuous monitoring and treatment of critically ill or injured patients using special medical facilities, equipment, and services
She required intensive care and survived without sequelae.—The Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association2
: a designated area in a hospital providing intensive care : intensive care unit
heart patients in intensive care
a patient isolated in intensive care
He spent several days in intensive care before recovering from the overdose.—Jerome Groopman
Jerome Groopmanintensive care
2 of 2 adjective
variants
also intensive-care
: providing or concerned with continuous monitoring and treatment of critically ill or injured patients using special medical facilities, equipment, and services
intensive care medicine
an intensive-care nurse
also
: receiving medical care in an intensive care unit
intensive care patients
compare acute care, chronic care
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