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triage

 - 5 dictionary results

tri⋅age

[tree-ahzh] noun, adjective, verb, -aged, ag⋅ing.
–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 in an emergency.
–adjective
3. of, pertaining to, or performing the task of triage: a triage officer.
–verb (used with object)
4. to act on or in by triage: to triage a crisis.

Origin:
1925–30; < F: sorting, equiv. to tri(er) to sort (see try ) + -age -age
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tri·age   (trē-äzh', trē'äzh')   
n.  
  1. A process for sorting injured people into groups based on their need for or likely benefit from immediate medical treatment. Triage is used in hospital emergency rooms, on battlefields, and at disaster sites when limited medical resources must be allocated.

  2. A system used to allocate a scarce commodity, such as food, only to those capable of deriving the greatest benefit from it.

  3. A process in which things are ranked in terms of importance or priority: "For millions of Americans, each week becomes a stressful triage between work and home that leaves them feeling guilty, exhausted and angry" (Jill Smolowe).

tr.v.   tri·aged, tri·ag·ing, tri·ag·es
To sort or allocate by triage: triaged the patients according to their symptoms.

[French, from trier, to sort, from Old French.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

triage 
1727, "action of assorting according to quality," from Fr. triage "a picking out, sorting," from O.Fr. trier "to pick, cull" (see try). There seems to be some influence from or convergence with L. tria "three" (e.g. triage for "coffee beans of the third or lowest quality"). In World War I, adopted for the sorting of wounded soldiers into three groups according to the severity of their injuries.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: tri·age
Pronunciation: trE-'äzh, 'trE-"
Function: noun
1 : the sorting of and allocation of treatment to patients andespecially battle and disaster victims according to a system of priorities designed to maximize the number of survivors
2 : the sorting of patients (as in an emergency room or anHMO) according to the urgency of their need for care —triage transitive verb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

triage tri·age (trē-äzh', trē'äzh')
n.
A process for sorting injured people into groups based on their need for or likely benefit from immediate medical treatment. Triage is used on the battlefield, at disaster sites, and in hospital emergency rooms when limited medical resources must be allocated.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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