critical condition

[ krit-i-kuhl kuhn-dish-uhn ]

noun

1. Medicine/Medical. an unstable state, resulting from severe illness or injury, in which the patient’s vital signs and other symptoms indicate a significant risk of death:

   An 80-year-old man with serious head injuries was rushed from the accident scene to the hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

2. a state of serious disrepair or disarray:

   After years of underfunding, the city’s infrastructure is in critical condition.

Word History and Origins

Origin of critical condition¹

First recorded in 1860–65 critical condition fordef 1; 1950–55 critical condition fordef 2

Example Sentences

Dossi initially was listed in critical condition with wounds to his arm and lower back.

From The Daily Beast

Hospital officials said Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano, both 14 years old, remained in critical condition.

From The Daily Beast

The two wounded workers had already been rushed away in ambulances, one in critical condition and the other stable.

From The Daily Beast

She was announced dead later that evening after hours of being in critical condition.

From The Daily Beast

The most seriously wounded, 11-year-old Tymisha Washington, was listed in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.

From The Daily Beast

The reader may have realized that by the beginning of 1891 Mark Twain's finances were in a critical condition.

From Project Gutenberg

They traveled with all possible speed, and on arriving at the place found the woman in a very critical condition.

From Project Gutenberg

The succeeding year was signalized for the critical condition of the settlement.

From Project Gutenberg

He was in the vicinity of Lancaster with forty-eight dragoons, when he learned the critical condition of Brookfield.

From Project Gutenberg

It required all the moral courage that I was master of to bear me up in view of my critical condition.

From Project Gutenberg