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

Officials urged anyone experiencing illness to contact their healthcare provider or visit an urgent care or emergency room. —Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 25 Apr. 2026

There appeared to be several bullet holes in the window of an urgent care location at the intersection of 125th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. —Adi Guajardo, CBS News, 24 Apr. 2026

Allina Health operates 12 hospital campuses, more than 60 primary care clinics, 20 urgent care centers and over 100 specialty sites across Minnesota and western Wisconsin, employing about 27,000 people, including 6,800 providers. —Kristi Miller, Twin Cities, 17 Apr. 2026

That is where urgent care has a real opportunity. —Jeremy Morgan, Fortune, 16 Apr. 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