emergency

[ih-mur-juhn-see]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR emergency ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural e·mer·gen·cies.

a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action.

a state, especially of need for help or relief, created by some unexpected event: a weather emergency; a financial emergency.

adjective

granted, used, or for use in an emergency: an emergency leave; emergency lights.

Origin of emergency

1625–35; < Medieval Latin ēmergentia, equivalent to ēmerg- (see emerge) + -entia -ency. See emergent

Related formsnon·e·mer·gen·cy, adjective, noun, plural non·e·mer·gen·cies.post·e·mer·gen·cy, adjectivepre·e·mer·gen·cy, adjective, noun, plural pre·e·mer·gen·cies.

Synonyms for emergency

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR emergency ON THESAURUS.COM

1. exigency, extremity, pinch, quandary, plight. Emergency, crisis, straits refer to dangerous situations. An emergency is a situation demanding immediate action: A power failure created an emergency in transportation. A crisis is a vital or decisive turning point in a condition or state of affairs, and everything depends on the outcome of it: Help arrived when affairs had reached a crisis. Strait (usually straits ) suggests a pressing situation, often one of need or want: The family was in desperate straits for food and clothing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for emergency

difficulty, crunch, accident, necessity, tension, distress, misadventure, climax, strait, juncture, pass, plight, depression, fix, scrape, vicissitude, compulsion, exigency, pressure, hole

Examples from the Web for emergency

Contemporary Examples of emergency

During an emergency that ratio could be allowed to drop to 8.5 people per orbit.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says
Dave Majumdar
January 5, 2015
One specific kind of emergency is at the heart of this, such as when an airplane suffers a loss of stability at night.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?
Clive Irving
January 4, 2015
Had they been properly trained, they could and should have flown themselves safely out of the emergency.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?
Clive Irving
January 4, 2015
This suggests that the pilots were overtaken very rapidly by an emergency.
Did Bad Weather Bring Down AirAsia 8501?
Clive Irving
December 29, 2014
A click sends a user to a statement, a list of passenger nationalities, emergency call-center numbers, and other information.
The Presumed Crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 Is Nothing Like MH370
Lennox Samuels
December 29, 2014

Historical Examples of emergency

As far as we can learn there never was an emergency yet which the life-principle was not equipped to meet.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
Did she have a heart, then, or was it a feminine trait to turn pale in every emergency?
Chip, of the Flying U
B. M. Bower
O'Mooney's presence of mind did not forsake him upon this emergency.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
He had not now the advantage of Russell's firmness to support him in this emergency.
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
She sighed, put it back on the counter, and rose to the emergency.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for emergency

emergency

noun plural -cies

an unforeseen or sudden occurrence, esp of a danger demanding immediate remedy or action
(as modifier)an emergency exit

a patient requiring urgent treatment
(as modifier)an emergency ward

state of emergency a condition, declared by a government, in which martial law applies, usually because of civil unrest or natural disaster

NZ a player selected to stand by to replace an injured member of a team; reserve

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for emergency

"unforeseen occurrence requiring immediate attention," 1630s, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergere (see emerge). Or from emerge + -ency.