‘处置’ (chǔ zhì) is a formal verb meaning ‘to handle’ or ‘to deal with’, especially in official, administrative, medical, or emergency contexts. It implies taking deliberate, often authoritative action to resolve a situation—such as managing a crisis, responding to an incident, or treating a medical condition. The first character 处 (chǔ) means ‘to be at’ or ‘to handle’, and the second 置 (zhì) means ‘to place’ or ‘to arrange’; together, they convey the idea of deliberately placing or managing something in an appropriate way.

This word carries a tone of seriousness and responsibility—it’s rarely used for casual daily tasks (e.g., not for ‘dealing with laundry’). You’ll commonly encounter it in hospitals (e.g., patient treatment plans), government documents, workplace safety protocols, or news reports about accidents or violations. It often appears after a noun indicating what is being handled (e.g., 事故处置 ‘incident response’) or as part of compound nouns like 处置方案 (‘response plan’).