The quality of needing quick or immediate action. It describes a situation where waiting could cause problems.
From French 'urgence', from Latin 'urgentia' meaning 'pressing, insistence', from 'urgēre' (to press, drive). It entered English in the 1400s.
Urgency is time pressure turned into a noun—it’s what you feel when something 'presses' on your schedule. Emergency rooms are literally built around sorting which urgencies are greatest.
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