medical examiner
Americannoun
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a physician or other person trained in medicine who is appointed by a city, county, or the like, to perform autopsies on the bodies of persons supposed to have died from unnatural causes and to investigate the cause and circumstances of such deaths.
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a physician retained by an insurance company, industrial firm, or the like, to give medical examinations to its clients or employees.
noun
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a medical expert, usually a physician, employed by a state or local government to determine the cause of sudden death in cases of suspected violence, suicide, etc Compare coroner
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a physician who carries out medical examinations
Etymology
Origin of medical examiner
First recorded in 1840–50
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.
By last year, Cali’s homicides were down to 1,107, according to Colombia’s medical examiner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026
The Los Angeles County medical examiner identified the two victims killed in the crash as 25-year-old Oswaldo Sandoval and 1-year-old Roger Sandoval.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
A medical examiner had quickly ruled it an accident without waiting for a toxicology report.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
The county medical examiner has yet to release an autopsy report with the girl’s cause of death.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
When Arthur Devlin himself stepped off the first passenger car with Lester Burton and the county medical examiner in tow, they knew the quarantine was over.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
