sawbones

[saw-bohnz]

noun

(used with a singular verb)

plural

sawbones, sawboneses 

1. a surgeon or physician.

sawbones

/ ˈsɔːˌbəʊnz /

noun

1. slang,  a surgeon or doctor

Word History and Origins

Origin of sawbones¹

First recorded in 1830–40; saw ¹ + bone + -s ³ ( def. )

Example Sentences

The novel is set in the present day, but potatoes are “spuds,” coffee is “joe,” food is “chow,” mosquitoes are “skeeters” and a doctor is “the local sawbones.”

Read more on New York Times

Like most central characters in doctor shows, Conrad – no one he likes calls him Dr. Hawkins -- is essentially a superhero: smarter, quicker, better and better-looking than your ordinary sawbones.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Handily, Igor also turns out to be a genius of a kind, an expert draftsman and amateur sawbones who’s eager to help Victor with some of his dodgier scientific experiments.

Read more on New York Times

A typical surgeon’s kit from the period contained a variety of knives and bone saws, thus inspiring the slang term for doctors “sawbones.”

Read more on Literature

“Put the sawbones like me out of business.”

Read more on The New Yorker

Related Words

• doctor 
• specialist 
• surgeon