doctor
Americannoun
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doctors
plural
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a person licensed to practice medicine, as a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian.
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a person who has been awarded a doctor's degree.
He is a Doctor of Philosophy.
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Older Slang. a cook, as at a camp or on a ship.
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Machinery. any of various minor mechanical devices, especially one designed to remedy an undesirable characteristic of an automatic process.
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Angling. any of several artificial flies, especially the silver doctor.
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an eminent scholar and teacher.
verb (used with object)
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doctors,
present (3rd person singular)
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doctored,
past participle, past
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doctoring
present participle
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to give medical treatment to; act as a physician to.
He feels he can doctor himself for just a common cold.
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to treat (an ailment); apply remedies to.
He doctored his cold at home.
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to restore to original or working condition; repair; mend.
She was able to doctor the chipped vase with a little plastic cement.
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to tamper with; falsify.
He doctored the birthdate on his passport.
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to add a foreign substance to; adulterate.
Someone had doctored the drink.
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to revise, alter, or adapt (a photograph, manuscript, etc.) in order to serve a specific purpose or to improve the material.
to doctor a play.
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to award a doctorate to.
He did his undergraduate work in the U.S. and was doctored at Oxford.
verb (used without object)
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doctors,
present (3rd person singular)
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doctored,
past participle, past
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doctoring
present participle
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to practice medicine.
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Older Use. to take medicine; receive medical treatment.
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Metallurgy. (of an article being electroplated) to receive plating unevenly.
noun
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a person licensed to practise medicine
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a person who has been awarded a higher academic degree in any field of knowledge
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a person licensed to practise dentistry or veterinary medicine
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Also called: Doctor of the Church. (often capital) a title given to any of several of the leading Fathers or theologians in the history of the Christian Church down to the late Middle Ages whose teachings have greatly influenced orthodox Christian thought
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angling any of various gaudy artificial flies
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informal a person who mends or repairs things
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slang a cook on a ship or at a camp
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archaic a man, esp a teacher, of learning
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a device used for local repair of electroplated surfaces, consisting of an anode of the plating material embedded in an absorbent material containing the solution
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(in a paper-making machine) a blade that is set to scrape the roller in order to regulate the thickness of pulp or ink on it
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a cool sea breeze blowing in some countries
the Cape doctor
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slang to make a great effort or move very fast, esp in a horse race
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something needed or desired
verb
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(tr)
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to give medical treatment to
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to prescribe for (a disease or disorder)
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informal (intr) to practise medicine
he doctored in Easter Island for six years
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(tr) to repair or mend, esp in a makeshift manner
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(tr) to make different in order to deceive, tamper with, falsify, or adulterate
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(tr) to adapt for a desired end, effect, etc
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(tr) to castrate (a cat, dog, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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doctorshipnoun
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subdoctornoun
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superdoctornoun
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underdoctornoun
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doctoraladjective
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doctorialadjective
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doctorlessadjective
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undoctoredadjective
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doctorallyadverb
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doctoriallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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doctorsimple
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doctorssimple
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have doctoredperfect
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has doctoredperfect
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am doctoringprogressive
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are doctoringprogressive
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is doctoringprogressive
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have been doctoringperfect progressive
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has been doctoringperfect progressive
Past
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doctoredsimple
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had doctoredperfect
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was doctoringprogressive
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were doctoringprogressive
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had been doctoringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of doctor
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English docto(u)r, from Anglo-French, from Latin, from doc(ēre) “to teach” + -tor -tor
Explanation
You see doctor, and you think of someone doing good — like the medical doctor who saves lives. However, a person who doctors or tampers with a document is adding something wrong or harmful to it, like a lie. Doctor is the Latin word for "teacher," which makes sense since your doctor is often the one teaching you about how to take care of your body. Anyone who has a PhD, be it in English or Egyptology, is also referred to as a doctor because she holds a doctorate degree. But beware, there's also a market out there for doctored, or tampered-with diplomas, where you can buy a fake degree to call yourself a doctor.
Vocabulary lists containing doctor
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It added that Nikita's doctor had said Nikita was "very anxious and uncertain" during her procedure "which can influence the perception of pain".
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
And if you’re familiar with Martin Best, the curmudgeonly doctor with an almost permanently furrowed brow portrayed by Charles, the character’s willingness to don such a getup likely took some coaxing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Medicaid benefits vary by state, but federal law requires coverage of inpatient and outpatient hospital services, doctor visits, lab tests, X-rays, home health services and other benefits.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Anna is staying with her aunt in hopes of persuading her to visit a doctor for severe neurological pain.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
The doctor listened with a stethoscope to the sisters’ breathing as the raps sounded.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
For decades, doctors have been surgically lifting the skin and often breaking nasal bones in order to create more symmetrical noses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Garces Perez says doctors couldn’t remove the bullet because it had lodged near his spine and ICE wanted to move him to a detention center, where he remains in custody.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
Oculoplastic surgeons - doctors specialising in surgery around the eyes - say a concerning number of patients are reporting problems from cheap bleph surgery, typically carried out abroad.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Chris, a company director, said doctors were initially concerned it was hepatitis, external.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
Antonio and Hanna Damasio, a husband-and-wife team of doctors, regularly see people who remind them of Phineas Gage.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Taylor, the nanny in London, said she submitted a doctored photograph of herself that made her look heavier to obtain her prescription.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
He highlighted that Murrell had doctored invoices for a £124,550 motorhome, a £3,070 robotic lawnmower and a £23.98 egg poacher to register them as legitimate business expenses.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
According to the lawsuit and subsequent discovery, they doctored a 911 report, stating that the call was unfounded and that no suspect was identified, omitting Williams’ identity.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
"Some of my friends have seen doctored images of themselves which look really convincing," she said.
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
“The simcap being circulated is clearly a doctored fake. We have no other comment at this time.”
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
“Back then, they had 30 cowboys who rode every day, seven days a week, doctoring cattle. I’ve got five,” the younger Nieto said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The lawsuit - filed in Florida - accuses the BBC of "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring" his speech.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
In 2022, Fischer ordered the neutral forensic examination of alleged doctoring of the city records.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
The clinic note is a vital part of doctoring.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2025
All the time Mama was doctoring me, I could hear Daisy cooing and talking to Old Rowdy.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
