intensive care unit
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of intensive care unit
First recorded in 1960–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There are no beds in the paediatric intensive care unit, but the team get on the road anyway.
From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026
The woman was 7 months pregnant with the family’s third child, a girl, who died in a neonatal intensive care unit.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called for a transparent investigation into the killing of Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse working at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital.
From Salon • Feb. 2, 2026
Salehuddin Ahmed, who holds the finance portfolio in the interim government, said the economy had shifted from the "intensive care unit to the high dependency unit".
From Barron's • Feb. 1, 2026
He died in the intensive care unit in the early hours of the morning.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
