Meaning & use
emergency contact
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person you name for officials to call if you are hurt or in serious trouble.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'an emergency contact' or 'two emergency contacts'.
Patterns
- someone's emergency contact
- list someone as an emergency contact
- give an emergency contact
Please write your emergency contact on the back of the form.
The school calls your emergency contact if you become ill during the day.
My emergency contact is my sister, who lives ten minutes away.
nouncountable
The phone number or details of that person, kept for use in a crisis.
Grammar: Often used without 'a' in headings and forms: 'Emergency contact:'.
Patterns
- have someone's emergency contact
- update your emergency contact details
Do you have an emergency contact for the trip?
I updated my emergency contact after I moved.
Word forms
| plural | emergency contacts |
|---|
Common combinations
- emergency contact number
- The babysitter left an emergency contact number on the fridge.
- provide an emergency contact
- All climbers must provide an emergency contact before setting out.
- emergency contact details
- Check that your emergency contact details are still correct.
- designated emergency contact
- Each team has a designated emergency contact.
Synonyms and how they differ
- next of kin
- This is a formal legal term for your closest relative; it fits official documents better than everyday school or club forms.
Word family
Commonly confused: emergency contact or contact number?
emergency contact vs contact number
A contact number is just any phone number for reaching someone; an emergency contact is specifically the person or number used in a crisis.
Practice
Before the hiking trip, each student had to name an emergency contact ___.
Choose one answer.
'On the form' is the natural phrase for information written on a document. 'For the trip' is tempting because the trip is the context, but the sentence is about the paperwork, not the journey.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “emergency contact”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.