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
Pets and animals Pasadena Humane has taken in over 300 animals as of Wednesday evening, including many with burns and injuries who are receiving treatment in their intensive care unit.
—Caelyn Pender, The Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2025
The father of a Virginia toddler who suffered a mysterious bone fracture as a newborn in a Richmond hospital's neonatal intensive care unit says the victims all shared one common trait, even as a motive remains unclear.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 7 Jan. 2025
She was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit and went into respiratory failure but eventually recovered after treatment.
—Emily Mullin, WIRED, 7 Jan. 2025
His twin, Ali, is fighting for his life in the intensive care unit.
—Ghada Abdulfattah, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for intensive care 
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Caelyn Pender, The Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2025
The father of a Virginia toddler who suffered a mysterious bone fracture as a newborn in a Richmond hospital's neonatal intensive care unit says the victims all shared one common trait, even as a motive remains unclear.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 7 Jan. 2025
She was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit and went into respiratory failure but eventually recovered after treatment.
—Emily Mullin, WIRED, 7 Jan. 2025
His twin, Ali, is fighting for his life in the intensive care unit.
—Ghada Abdulfattah, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for intensive care
Dictionary Entries Near intensive care
Cite this Entry
“Intensive care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intensive%20care. Accessed 18 Jan. 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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