emergency

IPA/ɪˈmɜːdʒənsi/
KK[ɪmˈɚdʒənsi]IPA/ɪˈmɜːrdʒənsi/

emergency — noun

  • emergencysingular
  • emergenciesplural

1. a sudden and unexpected event that involves danger or harm and requires people t

1.nounB1
Definition

a sudden and unexpected event that involves danger or harm and requires people to act immediately to prevent things from getting worse

Example

The hospital used its emergency plan when Imani arrived with burns from the kitchen fire.

collocation: emergency plan

Ayesha called the emergency number when she smelled gas leaking from her kitchen.

collocation: call the emergency number

Common collocations
  • declare a state of emergency
  • emergency services
  • emergency contact
  • emergency landing
  • emergency room (ER)
  • emergency brake
  • handle an emergency
  • medical emergency
Synonyms
  • crisis

    can describe a longer-lasting problem; emergency emphasises suddenness and the need for immediate action

  • urgency

    focuses on time pressure rather than danger; an emergency often involves urgency but urgency does not always involve danger

  • disaster

    stresses the harmful outcome after the event; an emergency is the situation that may lead to a disaster if not handled quickly

Antonyms
  • safety

    a state free from danger, which is the opposite of being in an emergency

Grammar Patterns

emergency + noun

in an emergency

in case of emergency

Usage Note

Commonly placed before another noun (emergency exit, emergency room, emergency plan) to describe items or systems designed for use during a crisis.

Common Mistakes

I have an emergency meeting with my boss.
I have an urgent meeting with my boss.
'Emergency' before a noun describes things for crisis situations (emergency exit, emergency room), not simply 'very important'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Emergency, crisis, urgency, and disaster all point to difficult situations, but they differ in timing and focus. An emergency is a sudden, dangerous event that demands immediate action — a heart attack, a gas leak, or a fire. A crisis may also be serious, but it often develops over time (a financial crisis, a political crisis) and can last days or weeks. Urgency is not a type of event but a quality of time pressure: you can feel a sense of urgency without being in actual danger. A disaster is the harmful outcome after something goes badly wrong (a flood or an earthquake); the emergency is the moment when quick action might still prevent that outcome. For example: "When the earthquake struck, the hospital faced a medical emergency (not yet a disaster), and the staff worked with great urgency to move patients to safety."

crisis ↗urgency ↗disaster ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • in an emergency
  • in case of emergency
  • state of emergency

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Emergency comes from the Latin verb emergere, meaning 'to rise out' or 'to come forth'. In the 1600s, English speakers used it to describe a situation that suddenly 'arises' or 'comes up' — especially an unexpected one that needed a quick response. Over time, the word developed its modern sense of a sudden, dangerous event requiring immediate action.