health care

noun

variants or healthcare

ˈhelth-ˌker 

 also  ˈheltth-

1

: efforts made to maintain, restore, or promote someone's physical, mental, or emotional well-being especially when performed by trained and licensed professionals

affordable health care

single-payer/universal health care

Health care is about keeping people healthy or fixing them up when they get sick.

—Ezekiel J. Emanuel

… has invested more than $500 million to improve access to quality healthcare in rural America …

—Bemidji Pioneer (online)

… the wearable [device] market is empowering people to take charge of their own healthcare.

—Rebecca Bellan

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care costs

Residents receive their meals, assistance with medications, … limited health-care services, supervision and companionship.

—Jere Daniel

2

: the people and organizations that provide health care

jobs in health care

The charges speak to some of the problems that face healthcare …

—Dave Newbart

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care workers

the health-care system/industry

Examples of health care in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Although Greece has ramped up investment to the health care sector, overall spending and pay remain below the E.U. average. —Adam Rasmi/athens, TIME, 25 Apr. 2024

In amicus briefs filed for the case, and in interviews with the Idaho Statesman and other news outlets, doctors and the state’s largest health care provider, St. Luke’s, described emergency situations that prompted the transfer of patients out of state to seek abortions. —Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman, 25 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

health care

noun

variants or healthcare

1

: efforts to maintain, restore, or promote someone's physical, mental, or emotional well-being especially when performed by trained and licensed professionals (as in medicine, dentistry, clinical psychology, and public health)

We developed penicillin, heart surgery and transplants, among many other breakthroughs that have transformed health care.

—Thomas Fishbein

Medicare payments for home healthcare will also be reduced by $40 billion over 10 years.

—Peter Grier

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care coverage

2

: the personnel and organizations that provide health care

Pregnant health care workers should wash their hands more frequently than usual and be extra-careful when handling infectious objects.

—Maria LaPiana

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care providers