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

Amid the gauntlet of billboards touting fast food, urgent care and gasoline, along busy Route 41 is one that stands out more than ever now. —Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 21 Jan. 2026

An urgent care appointment can cost a family’s grocery budget. —Jason Phillips, USA Today, 19 Jan. 2026

The majority of these applicants are anxiously hoping for immediate relief from creditors and debt collectors or asking for funds for urgent care and essential needs. —Richard Lane, Des Moines Register, 18 Jan. 2026

Some urgent care centers also offer virtual visits. —Nicole Villalpando, Austin American Statesman, 15 Jan. 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