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
The pilot, 60-year-old Chad Millward, who was a retired CHP officer, remains in the intensive care unit but is in stable condition, according to the company.
—Sacbee.com, 18 Oct. 2025
In the quiet hush of the neonatal intensive care unit at Shahjahanpur Medical College, the only constant sound was the monotone of the heart monitor, its low hum keeping watch over the baby sleeping inside the sterile incubator.
—Aishwarya S. Iyer, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2025
The new maternity ward, which was filled to the brim with boxes when the county took over operations, has six delivery rooms, 13 post-delivery rooms, four triage rooms and a six-bed neonatal intensive care unit.
—Grace Hase, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
The child, who was then four years old, briefly slipped into a coma after being admitted to a local intensive care unit.
—Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for intensive care
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Sacbee.com, 18 Oct. 2025
In the quiet hush of the neonatal intensive care unit at Shahjahanpur Medical College, the only constant sound was the monotone of the heart monitor, its low hum keeping watch over the baby sleeping inside the sterile incubator.
—Aishwarya S. Iyer, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2025
The new maternity ward, which was filled to the brim with boxes when the county took over operations, has six delivery rooms, 13 post-delivery rooms, four triage rooms and a six-bed neonatal intensive care unit.
—Grace Hase, Mercury News, 16 Oct. 2025
The child, who was then four years old, briefly slipped into a coma after being admitted to a local intensive care unit.
—Lauren J. Young, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for intensive care
Cite this Entry
“Intensive care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intensive%20care. Accessed 29 Oct. 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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