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
-
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:
After struggling with her blood pressure as she lost her first WTA Tour singles match for 16 months, Jodie Burrage checked in with three things: a doctor, a physiotherapist, and her phone.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
I like to doctor it with a little additional miso and coconut cream for richness, then pile on noodles, protein, vegetables and toppings.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
Buy the car, if you get the OK from your doctor and insurance company.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
The victory made El-Sayed the first Democratic doctor in the Senate since 1969.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
“If I know Daisy,” I said, “I won’t have to ask her to doctor my pony’s leg. She’ll put on that Red Cross uniform and take over. She always does.”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
These risks can also restrict the amount of radiation doctors can safely administer, potentially limiting treatment options.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 8, 2026
Fellow fishermen carried him from the riverbank and transported him to a hospital, where doctors amputated his hand just above the wrist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026
It was Leo himself who revealed last month that doctors had discovered a tumour during a routine scan.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Opponents of the measure included doctors who said that it is "not backed by clinical guidelines, and would create unwarranted stress and harm for young girls."
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
There are doctors, teachers, grocery clerks, construction workers, a trucker, moms, dads, grandparents, and dog, cat, fish, and hamster owners.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
In May, state media published a photo showing Suu Kyi talking to officials, but Aris says it may have been doctored.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 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
He has previously questioned whether a picture of him with his arm around Guiffre had been doctored and claimed he had never met her.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
Soon, real and doctored versions of those photos were filtering their way across the internet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
My model of coherent discourse is the original version of the text that I doctored for the opening of the chapter.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Javice was arrested in 2023 for doctoring customer lists while selling her company, Frank, to JPMorgan for $175 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
The clinic note is a vital part of doctoring.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2025
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, apologized on Monday for doctoring a photo of her with her three children, which was recalled by several news agencies on Sunday after they determined the image had been manipulated.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2024
In the fall of 2023, fans speculated that the singer was doctoring her Instagram pictures, including those of her and DDG’s Halloween costumes and those from the “Color Purple” premiere in Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
Often, there was a healing ceremony, a doctoring to cure the winter’s illnesses.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
