about the word "urgency"

[roseriver1012]

Can the word "urgency" be used in a singular way? That is can it be said "an urgency"? Why do I find different answers in different dictionaries?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Yes, "urgency" can be used as a singular. What sentence did you have in mind"

 

[roseriver1012]

Yes, "urgency" can be used as a singular. What sentence did you have in mind"

It's ______ great urgency that we need to make the relative laws with the rapid growth of online shopping.
The word for the blank is "of". Then is "a" also right for the blank? I've looked it up in both Oxford and Longman dictionaries. They only show that "urgency" is an uncountable word.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It's ______ great urgency that we need to make the relative laws with the rapid growth of online shopping.
The word for the blank is "of". Then is "a" also right for the blank? I've looked it up in both Oxford and Longman dictionaries. They only show that "urgency" is an uncountable word.

Yes, I would consider "a" to be equally acceptable to "of".

 

[emsr2d2]

It's ______ great urgency that we need to make the relative laws with the rapid growth of online shopping.
The word for the blank is "of". Then is "a" also right for the blank? I've looked it up in both Oxford and Longman dictionaries. They only show that "urgency" is an uncountable word.

I find "It's a great urgency that we need to make ..." very unnatural. I would say "It's very urgent that we make ..."

For me, the only two words which fit in the gap are "of" and "with".

The whole sentence is a bit messy. It doesn't really need "need to" and "make the relative laws with the rapid growth of online shopping" makes no sense to me.

I think the sentence actually means "We urgently need to make/pass relevant laws due to the rapid growth of online shopping."

 

[MikeNewYork]

All three: "of", "with", and "a" are in use.

great urgency

 

[Raymott]

All three: "of", "with", and "a" are in use.

Not for the given sentence.
It may be urgent that we do something. That makes the action an urgency. It doesn't make the fact or opinion that we urgently need to do it an urgency. That remains a simple fact (or opinion).
My opinion: "Removing this girl's appendix is an urgency." Correct.
My opinion [that removing this girl's appendix is an urgency] is not an urgency.

 

[MikeNewYork]

We can agree to disagree. That we need to do do something can be an urgency. The second definition here covers that.

 

[5jj]

I find "It's a great urgency that we need to make ..." very unnatural.

You are not alone. In the combined Corpus of Contemporary English and British National Corpus, there is only one citation for 'BE of (great) urgency that' and none for 'BE a great urgency that'. There are several dozen in the much larger Google Books corpora, with 'of' having ten times as many citations as 'a'.