triage

[ tree-ahzh ]
See synonyms for triage on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors.

  2. the determination of priorities for action: She began her workday with a triage of emails.

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or performing the task of triage: a triage officer.

verb (used with object),tri·aged, tri·ag·ing.
  1. to act on or in by triage: to triage a crisis.

Origin of triage

1
First recorded in 1925–30; from French: “a sorting,” from tri(er) “to sort” (cf. try) + -age -age

Words Nearby triage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use triage in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for triage

triage

/ (ˈtriːˌɑːʒ, ˌtriːˈɑːʒ, ˈtraɪ-) /


noun
  1. (in a hospital) the principle or practice of sorting emergency patients into categories of priority for treatment

  2. the principle or practice of sorting casualties in battle or disaster into categories of priority for treatment

  1. the principle or practice of allocating limited resources, as of food or foreign aid, on a basis of expediency rather than according to moral principles or the needs of the recipients

Origin of triage

1
C18 (in the sense: sorting (goods) according to quality): from French; see try, -age

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