whitecoat

[hwahyt-koht, wahyt-]

noun

1. a baby seal, usually less than four weeks old and still having its initial white fur.

Word History and Origins

Origin of whitecoat¹

First recorded in 1545–55; white + coat

Example Sentences

More than 2,300 Seventh-day Adventists who objected to U.S. military service during the period 1954-1973 volunteered for the Army’s “Operation Whitecoat” biodefense testing program based at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

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A group called the Whitecoat Alliance of medics said more than 50 medical staff had been arrested.

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Sarah Mojarad, a lecturer who teaches a course on social media for scientists at the University of Southern California, said she has seen physicians either “bashing their patients” on the app or “whitecoat marketing,” a term that refers to the use of medical prestige to market inappropriate products like unauthorized supplements.

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In the infamous Whitecoat Project, Philip Morris hired law firms to find scientists, aka “whitecoats,” who would help “resist and roll back smoking restrictions,” a plan detailed in a formerly confidential 1988 memo, and keep the controversy about the hazards of secondhand smoke alive.

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Nicopure, which makes e-liquids and e-cigarettes, hired the same law firm that ran Philip Morris’ Whitecoat operation to cast doubt on the dangers of secondhand smoke.

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