triage
To sort and prioritize items by urgency or importance
Examples
In a meeting
“Let me triage these support tickets and handle the urgent ones first.”
Over coffee
“I need to triage my errands and hit the post office before it closes.”
Why this word
prioritize
Triage implies urgent sorting based on severity or need, often under resource constraints
sort
Triage specifically means categorizing by urgency or criticality for immediate action
categorize
Triage emphasizes quick assessment to determine what needs immediate attention
Usage tip
Originally medical but now common in any context requiring urgent prioritization
Etymology
French 'trier' (to sort, sift), originally used for sorting coffee beans, later medical prioritization
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Related words
aggregate
To collect or combine separate items into a single total or group.
delineate
To describe or outline something precisely and clearly.
categorize
Place things into groups based on shared characteristics
compartmentalize
Separate things into distinct sections or categories
unify
To bring together into a single whole or system
partition
To divide into separate sections or parts