dentist

[ den-tist ]

/ ˈdɛn tɪst /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dentist ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person whose profession is dentistry.

Nearby words

Origin of dentist

1750–60; < French dentiste, equivalent to dent tooth (see dent²) + -iste -ist

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for dentist

And it goes beyond getting my teeth drilled at the dentist office—my dentist really likes classical music.
‘Mozart in the Jungle’: Inside Amazon’s Brave New World of Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music|Kevin Fallon|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And they saw him in his 60s, still making an audience howl with the “Dentist” number.
Why Comedians Still Think Bill Cosby Is a Genius|Mark Whitaker|October 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A New York alderman once said Petrosino “knocked out more teeth than a dentist.”
Who Really Murdered Joe Petrosino?|Barbie Latza Nadeau|June 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My father is 87 and he writes speeches in the dentist chair.
Novelist Holly Peterson Talks About New York, Power Trippers, and Love|Hannah Seligson|April 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Their marriage is squally: Cristina had been a dentist in Mexico, but her qualification means nothing in Nebraska.
Death in the Heartland: What Happened to Steven Haataja?|Tim Teeman|March 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He had once been a dentist, and he still considered himself one.
Ghetto Comedies|Israel Zangwill
I made a pretext for going to Paris—the old pretext, the dentist.
The Street Called Straight|Basil King
She had been suffering so with her teeth, said one; she had gone to Surabaya to see the dentist.
The Hidden Force|Louis Couperus
Well, I haven't seen my dentist lately, but I think everybody else I know has had it.
Berry And Co.|Dornford Yates
The appointment with the Glenford dentist had made it necessary for her to leave home that afternoon.
The Captain's Toll-Gate|Frank R. Stockton

British Dictionary definitions for dentist

dentist

/ (ˈdɛntɪst) /

noun

a person qualified to practise dentistry

Word Origin for dentist

C18: from French dentiste, from dent tooth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dentist

dentist

1759, from French dentiste, from dent "tooth," from Latin dens (see tooth) + -ist.

Dentist figures it now in our newspapers, and may do well enough for a French puffer, but we fancy Rutter is content with being called a tooth-drawer ["Edinburgh Chronicle," Sept. 15, 1759].

Tooth-drawer is attested from late 14c.

Medicine definitions for dentist

dentist

[ dĕn′tĭst ]

n.

A person who is trained and licensed to practice dentistry.