urgent care

noun

1

: medical care provided for illnesses or injuries which require prompt attention but are typically not of such seriousness as to require the services of an emergency room

… they have turned to one of the fastest-growing segments of American health care: urgent care, a common category of walk-in clinics with uncommon interest from Wall Street.

—Julie Creswell

—often used before another noun

If your leg or arm is sore and swollen, go to an urgent care center; if you have chest pain, shortness of breath or you're coughing up blood, get to an emergency room.

—Rick Nathanson

The athlete sustains an inversion or eversion ankle injury and is evaluated at a local emergency room or urgent care facility.

—James S. Keene

2

: medical care of an urgent nature

Strokes now are the focus of a broad new public-awareness campaign labeling them as "brain attacks," needing the same urgent care as heart attacks.

—Marilyn Chase

Examples of urgent care in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Today, people have more choices than ever for receiving routine care, from virtual care and urgent care to retail clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. —Anthem Blue Cross California, Daily News, 10 June 2026

Patients may not know the warning signs that should prompt urgent care—such as very heavy bleeding, severe cramping, fever, or feeling faint—or what is considered normal as the body recovers. —Dara Kass, Time, 9 June 2026

According to campus health services, students currently wait six to 11 days for primary care appointments at the existing health center, with no wait in urgent care. —Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 June 2026

The local hospital’s urgent care opened at eight and was about a half-hour walk away. —Alexandra Oliva june 1, Literary Hub, 1 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for urgent care

• aftercare
• anywhere
• billionaire
• chinaware
• debonair
• dinnerware
• disrepair
• doctrinaire
• earthenware
• everywhere
• frigidaire
• kitchenware