witch doctor
Americannoun
noun
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Also called: shaman. medicine man. a man in certain societies, esp preliterate ones, who appears to possess magical powers, used esp to cure sickness but also to harm people
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a person who seeks out or hunts witches in some African tribal cultures
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of witch doctor
First recorded in 1710–20
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.
A visit to a witch doctor only makes things worse for him and, most tragically, his dog.
From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2024
In Namibia, “for a witch doctor to make a ruling on whether or not you are a witch, you have to pay him a lot of money,” Holtzhausen says.
From Scientific American • May 31, 2023
Paul Pogba reportedly told investigators the blackmailers aimed to discredit him by claiming he asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on French superstar Mbappé.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 5, 2022
Steinbeck said he got the hummingbird from a witch doctor, and wrote that it holds “just about all the magic there is in the world.”
From Washington Times • Jan. 29, 2020
Cordelia reads one about a man who gets cursed by a voodoo witch doctor and grows a big red lobster claw on his hand, which turns on him and attacks him.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
