surgeon
Americannoun
noun
-
a medical practioner who specializes in surgery
-
a medical officer in the Royal Navy
Etymology
Origin of surgeon
1250–1300; Middle English surgien < Anglo-French, alteration of Old French cirurgien chirurgeon
Explanation
A surgeon is a kind of doctor who treats his patients by using his hands, often by performing surgery. If you're comfortable slicing into a person's body to remove an appendix, then you might make a decent surgeon. The word surgeon comes from the Greek kheirourgos, which is a fancy way of saying "done by the hand." Whereas a doctor-at-large might treat his patients by chatting with them, asking questions, and prescribing medications, a surgeon's work is much more hands-on, you might say. A surgeon specializes in cutting open the body, usually to heal his patients.
Vocabulary lists containing surgeon
Occupations
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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.
Appeared in the February 26, 2026, print edition as 'A Vaccine Skeptic for Surgeon General'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
Surgeon General in his 2025 advisory, potentially reducing preventable cancer-related deaths.
From Science Daily • Nov. 5, 2025
Surgeon Jaison Patel is seeing more and more cases like this.
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2025
I was playing Surgeon No. 2 in a dream sequence that Jeff Goldblum was in.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2025
“I’m Emcee Worm, and this is the Sturgeon Surgeon, aka Emcee Dirty Dylan, aka Emcee Dirty Bizniss, Cairnholm’s number one beat-boxer. Wanna show this Yank how we do, Dirty D?”
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
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.
