critical care
noun
1
: the monitoring and treatment of critically ill or injured patients : intensive care
Critical care involves the use of life-sustaining, high-technology medicine catering to a patient population that extends to both extremes of age. In adult ICUs, the average age is increasing and is now commonly well over 60 years.—
Simon Finfer and Jean-Louis Vincent
Simon Finfer and Jean-Louis Vincent2
: a designated area of a hospital providing critical care : intensive care unit
The death toll rose from six to at least 12, with scores of people needing hospital treatment and some in critical care.—Heather Brooke
—often hyphenated when used before another nounHeather Brookecritical-care nursing
a critical-care bed
see also critical care unit
Examples of critical care in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Their mother, a pediatric critical care nurse, had arrived for her shift at Hennepin County Medical Center, where several of the wounded were taken, before even knowing her children’s school was involved.
—Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
According to a GoFundMe launched to cover expenses for Sophia's medical care and recovery and trauma counseling for her and her brother, their mother is a pediatric critical care nurse and had arrived to work the day of the attack before knowing that her daughter was among those wounded.
—Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
The full-service clinic provides wellness exams, vaccines, bloodwork, cytologies, X-rays, ultrasounds, soft tissue, dental and orthopedic surgeries, integrative therapies and critical care.
—Regina Elling, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
Following blowback, Ascension Wisconsin reversed course and no longer plans to outsource staffing of its critical care physicians.
—Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for critical care
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Karina Tsui, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
According to a GoFundMe launched to cover expenses for Sophia's medical care and recovery and trauma counseling for her and her brother, their mother is a pediatric critical care nurse and had arrived to work the day of the attack before knowing that her daughter was among those wounded.
—Janelle Griffith, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025
The full-service clinic provides wellness exams, vaccines, bloodwork, cytologies, X-rays, ultrasounds, soft tissue, dental and orthopedic surgeries, integrative therapies and critical care.
—Regina Elling, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
Following blowback, Ascension Wisconsin reversed course and no longer plans to outsource staffing of its critical care physicians.
—Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for critical care
Cite this Entry
“Critical care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/critical%20care. Accessed 26 Sep. 2025.
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