intensive care unit
intensive care unit — noun
1. a special area in a hospital where patients who are dangerously sick or hurt rec
a special area in a hospital where patients who are dangerously sick or hurt receive constant attention from doctors and nurses, using machines that support their breathing, heart function, or other vital processes
After the car accident, Nila was rushed to the intensive care unit at City Hospital.
rushed to the intensive care unit after an accident
The intensive care unit has only twelve beds, so not every patient can stay there.
Doctors in the intensive care unit check each patient's condition every few minutes.
Hiro's family waited outside the intensive care unit while the nurses worked on him.
The hospital opened a new intensive care unit last year with modern life-support machines.
- ICU
abbreviation used in both medical and general contexts, equally common as the full form
- critical care unit
often used interchangeably, though some hospitals distinguish CCU as a step down from ICU
- general ward
a regular hospital ward for patients who do not need constant monitoring
文法句型
the intensive care unit
be admitted to the intensive care unit
in the intensive care unit
用法筆記
Often shortened to ICU in speech and writing. The abbreviation is commonly seen on hospital signs, in medical records, and in news reports. 'Intensive care unit' is a countable noun — it usually needs an article (the, an) or a determiner.