emergency
//ɪˈmɜː(ɹ).dʒən.si//
Forms
- Plural
- emergencies
Definitions
1.A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention.
- Cardiac arrest is an emergency requiring medical attention.
- We also found that the only emergency egress from the tram was by smashing the front or rear windscreens, and that emergency lighting had failed when the tram overturned.
2.The department of a hospital that treats emergencies.
3.A person brought in at short notice to replace a member of staff, a player in a sporting team, etc.
4.A critical urge to urinate or defecate.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1703
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo (“to emerge, arise, come forth”), equivalent to emergent + -cy or emerge + -ency.
Doublet of emergence.