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View synonyms for doctor

doctor

[dok-ter]

noun

  1. a person licensed to practice medicine, as a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian.

  2. a person who has been awarded a doctor's degree.

    He is a Doctor of Philosophy.

  3. Doctor of the Church.

  4. Older Slang.,  a cook, as at a camp or on a ship.

  5. Machinery.,  any of various minor mechanical devices, especially one designed to remedy an undesirable characteristic of an automatic process.

  6. Angling.,  any of several artificial flies, especially the silver doctor.

  7. an eminent scholar and teacher.



verb (used with object)

  1. to give medical treatment to; act as a physician to.

    He feels he can doctor himself for just a common cold.

  2. to treat (an ailment); apply remedies to.

    He doctored his cold at home.

  3. to restore to original or working condition; repair; mend.

    She was able to doctor the chipped vase with a little plastic cement.

  4. to tamper with; falsify.

    He doctored the birthdate on his passport.

  5. to add a foreign substance to; adulterate.

    Someone had doctored the drink.

  6. 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.

  7. to award a doctorate to.

    He did his undergraduate work in the U.S. and was doctored at Oxford.

verb (used without object)

  1. to practice medicine.

  2. Older Use.,  to take medicine; receive medical treatment.

  3. Metallurgy.,  (of an article being electroplated) to receive plating unevenly.

doctor

/ ˈdɒktə, dɒkˈtɔːrɪəl /

noun

  1. a person licensed to practise medicine

  2. a person who has been awarded a higher academic degree in any field of knowledge

  3. a person licensed to practise dentistry or veterinary medicine

  4. 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

  5. angling any of various gaudy artificial flies

  6. informal,  a person who mends or repairs things

  7. slang,  a cook on a ship or at a camp

  8. archaic,  a man, esp a teacher, of learning

  9. 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

  10. (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

  11. a cool sea breeze blowing in some countries

    the Cape doctor

  12. slang,  to make a great effort or move very fast, esp in a horse race

  13. something needed or desired

“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

verb

  1. (tr)

    1. to give medical treatment to

    2. to prescribe for (a disease or disorder)

  2. informal,  (intr) to practise medicine

    he doctored in Easter Island for six years

  3. (tr) to repair or mend, esp in a makeshift manner

  4. (tr) to make different in order to deceive, tamper with, falsify, or adulterate

  5. (tr) to adapt for a desired end, effect, etc

  6. (tr) to castrate (a cat, dog, etc)

“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
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Other Word Forms

  • doctoral adjective
  • doctorial adjective
  • doctorally adverb
  • doctorially adverb
  • doctorless adjective
  • doctorship noun
  • subdoctor noun
  • superdoctor noun
  • underdoctor noun
  • undoctored adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of doctor1

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English docto(u)r, from Anglo-French, from Latin, from doc(ēre) “to teach” + -tor -tor
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Word History and Origins

Origin of doctor1

C14: from Latin: teacher, from docēre to teach
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Idioms and Phrases

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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.

But it's difficult for doctors to work out which cancers are going to be aggressive and spread, which means men can be treated unnecessarily.

Read more on BBC

Even well-meaning efforts by professionals—such as the “diet and exercise” counsel typically offered by doctors—rarely produced durable weight loss.

Artificial intelligence can now craft award-winning essays and help doctors detect disease with impressive accuracy.

Read more on Science Daily

But I’d be more thankful if the good doctor got fired and went back to his medieval medical malpractice.

Read more on Salon

Dad Matt said: "We witnessed first-hand the medical expertise of the paramedics and doctors and know that they did everything they could for Kory."

Read more on BBC

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