emergency
n. countablen. a serious or dangerous situation that happens suddenly and needs quick action. You use this when someone is hurt or there is a big problem that cannot wait.
n. a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action. Often used as a modifier before other nouns to indicate a state of urgency.
Call the police only if there is a real emergency.
The hospital staff is trained to stay calm and follow strict protocols during a medical emergency.
While the government declared a state of emergency to manage the flood, local volunteers provided the immediate logistical support necessary to evacuate the most vulnerable residents.
Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo (“to emerge, arise, come forth”), equivalent to emergent + -cy or emerge + -ency. Doublet of emergence.
Commonly used as an attributive noun (e.g., 'emergency exit', 'emergency room') to describe things designed for urgent situations.
In case of an emergency, call to 911In case of an emergency, call 911The verb 'call' is transitive when used to contact someone by phone and does not take the preposition 'to'.