triage

American  

[tree-ahzh] / triˈɑʒ /

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.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or performing the task of triage.

   a triage officer.

verb (used with object)

triaged, triaging

1. to act on or in by triage.

   to triage a crisis.

triage British  

/ ˌtriːˈɑːʒ, ˈtraɪ-, ˈtriːˌɑːʒ /

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

3. 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

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Etymology

Origin of triage

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

Explanation

Grouping patients based on the severity of their injuries and the likelihood of their survival is called triage. In a triage situation, urgent cases are seen by doctors first, and non-life-threatening emergencies go last. You can also apply the sorting and prioritizing of triage to more general situations. If you're overwhelmed with homework, you can perform triage by organizing it into subjects and prioritizing assignments based on their due dates. The word triage comes from the French word trier meaning to sort. Although the medical sense is now the most common, it wasn't used that way until World War One.

Example Sentences

Most companies are getting better at patching critical bugs, but AI is driving up the sheer volume of reported bugs and patching everything is taking longer, according to HackerOne, which helps companies triage bug reports.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Local residents were “circling the school, trying to protect the students. It is like I am doing emotional triage on some type of battlefield, right here in my own city,” she explained.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

"We cannot possibly conserve everything, so we have to triage and decide how to allocate limited resources towards what we think are the highest priorities," Chan said.

From Science Daily • Mar. 9, 2026

Ruben was arrested at a nearby pub while the group were eating lunch, and 38 children were taken to the local village hall for medical triage.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2026

Yuko and her husband Ahmaad took Kathy and the kids to Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the Red Cross had set up a shelter and triage unit for New Orleanians.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers