doctor
Other forms: doctors; doctored; doctoring
You see doctor, and you think of someone doing good — like the medical doctor who saves lives. However, a person who doctors or tampers with a document is adding something wrong or harmful to it, like a lie.
Doctor is the Latin word for "teacher," which makes sense since your doctor is often the one teaching you about how to take care of your body. Anyone who has a PhD, be it in English or Egyptology, is also referred to as a doctor because she holds a doctorate degree. But beware, there's also a market out there for doctored, or tampered-with diplomas, where you can buy a fake degree to call yourself a doctor.
Definitions of doctor
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a person who holds Ph.D. degree (or the equivalent) from an academic institution“she is a doctor of philosophy in physics”
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synonyms:
Dr.
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type of:
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bookman, scholar, scholarly person, student
a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines
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bookman, scholar, scholarly person, student
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a licensed medical practitioner“I felt so bad I went to see my doctor”
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examples:
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Abul-Walid Mohammed ibn-Ahmad Ibn-Mohammed ibn-Roshd
Arabian philosopher born in Spain; wrote detailed commentaries on Aristotle that were admired by the Schoolmen (1126-1198)
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Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina
Arabian physician and influential Islamic philosopher; his interpretation of Aristotle influenced St. Thomas Aquinas; writings on medicine were important for almost 500 years (980-1037)
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Robert Barany
Austrian physician who developed a rotational method for testing the middle ear (1876-1936)
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Caspar Bartholin
Danish physician who discovered Bartholin's gland (1585-1629)
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Sir David Bruce
Australian physician and bacteriologist who described the bacterium that causes undulant fever or brucellosis (1855-1931)
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Burrill Bernard Crohn
United States physician who specialized in diseases of the intestines; he was the first to describe regional ileitis which is now known as Crohn's disease (1884-1983)
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John L. H. Down
English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896)
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Christiaan Eijkman
Dutch physician who discovered that beriberi is caused by a nutritional deficiency (1858-1930)
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Etienne-Louis Arthur Fallot
French physician who described cardiac anomalies including Fallot's tetralogy (1850-1911)
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William Gilbert
English court physician noted for his studies of terrestrial magnetism (1540-1603)
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William Harvey
English physician and scientist who described the circulation of the blood; he later proposed that all animals originate from an ovum produced by the female of the species (1578-1657)
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Thomas Hodgkin
English physician who first described Hodgkin's disease (1798-1866)
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George Huntington
United States physician who first described Huntington's chorea
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Aletta Jacobs
Dutch physician who opened the first birth control clinic in the world in Amsterdam (1854-1929)
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Edward Jenner
English physician who pioneered vaccination; Jenner inoculated people with small amounts of cowpox to prevent them from getting smallpox (1749-1823)
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Harry Fitch Kleinfelter
United States physician who first described the XXY-syndrome (born in 1912)
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Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier
United States physician who in 1863 founded a medical school for women (1813-1888)
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Sir Patrick Manson
Scottish physician who discovered that elephantiasis is spread by mosquitos and suggested that mosquitos also spread malaria (1844-1922)
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Friedrich Anton Mesmer
Austrian physician who tried to treat diseases with a form of hypnotism (1734-1815)
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Theophrastus Philippus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim
Swiss physician who introduced treatments of particular illnesses based on his observation and experience; he saw illness as having an external cause (rather than an imbalance of humors) and replaced traditional remedies with chemical remedies (1493-1541)
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Peter Mark Roget
English physician who in retirement compiled a well-known thesaurus (1779-1869)
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Sir Ronald Ross
British physician who discovered that mosquitos transmit malaria (1857-1932)
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Benjamin Rush
physician and American Revolutionary leader; signer of the Declaration of Independence (1745-1813)
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Albert Schweitzer
French philosopher and physician and organist who spent most of his life as a medical missionary in Gabon (1875-1965)
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Anna Howard Shaw
United States physician and suffragist (1847-1919)
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Sir James Young Simpson
Scottish obstetrician and surgeon who pioneered in the use of ether and discovered the anesthetic effects of chloroform (1811-1870)
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English Hippocrates
English physician (1624-1689)
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Erik Adolf von Willebrand
Finnish physician who first described vascular hemophilia (1870-1949)
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types:
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abortionist
a person (who should be a doctor) who terminates pregnancies
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allergist
a physician skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies
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angiologist
a physician who specializes in angiology
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extern, medical extern
a nonresident doctor or medical student; connected with a hospital but not living there
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gastroenterologist
a physician who specializes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract
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GP, general practitioner
a physician who is not a specialist but treats all illnesses
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hakeem, hakim
a Muslim physician
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house physician, resident, resident physician
a physician (especially an intern) who lives in a hospital and cares for hospitalized patients under the supervision of the medical staff of the hospital
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houseman, intern, interne, medical intern
an advanced student or graduate in medicine gaining supervised practical experience (`houseman' is a British term)
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primary care physician
the physician who provides primary care
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quack
an untrained person who pretends to be a physician and who dispenses medical advice
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medical specialist, specialist
practices one branch of medicine
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operating surgeon, sawbones, surgeon
a physician who specializes in surgery
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vet, veterinarian, veterinary, veterinary surgeon
a doctor who practices veterinary medicine
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amputator
a surgeon who removes part or all of a limb
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anaesthetist, anesthesiologist, anesthetist
a specialist who administers an anesthetic to a patient before he is treated
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baby doctor, paediatrician, pediatrician, pediatrist
a specialist in the care of babies
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cardiologist, heart specialist, heart surgeon
a specialist in cardiology; a specialist in the structure and function and disorders of the heart
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chiropodist, foot doctor, podiatrist
a specialist in care for the feet
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cosmetic surgeon, plastic surgeon
a surgeon who beautifies the body (especially the face)
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country doctor
a doctor who practices in the country (rather than in a city) usually remote from a modern hospital
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dermatologist, skin doctor
a doctor who specializes in the physiology and pathology of the skin
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diagnostician, pathologist
a doctor who specializes in medical diagnosis
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diplomate
medical specialist whose competence has been certified by a diploma granted by an appropriate professional group
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ear doctor, ear specialist, otologist
a physician who specializes in the ear and its diseases
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embryologist
a physician who specializes in embryology
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endocrinologist
physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the endocrine system
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ENT man, ear-nose-and-throat doctor, otolaryngologist, otorhinolaryngologist, rhinolaryngologist
a specialist in the disorders of the ear or nose or throat
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family doctor
a general practitioner who treats all the family members
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geriatrician, gerontologist
a specialist in gerontology
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gynaecologist, gynecologist, woman's doctor
a specialist in gynecology
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haematologist, hematologist
a doctor who specializes in diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs
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horse doctor
a veterinarian who treats horses
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hygienist
a medical specialist in hygiene
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internist
a specialist in internal medicine
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brain doctor, neurologist
a medical specialist in the nervous system and the disorders affecting it
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brain surgeon, neurosurgeon
someone who does surgery on the nervous system (especially the brain)
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accoucheur, obstetrician
a physician specializing in obstetrics
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oncologist
a specialist in oncology
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eye doctor, oculist, ophthalmologist
a medical doctor specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the eye
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orthopaedist, orthopedist
a specialist in correcting deformities of the skeletal system (especially in children)
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orthoptist
a specialist in orthoptics
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proctologist
a doctor specializing in diseases of the rectum and anus
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head-shrinker, psychiatrist, shrink
a physician who specializes in psychiatry
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radiographer
a person who makes radiographs
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radiologist, radiotherapist
a medical specialist who uses radioactive substances and X-rays in the treatment of disease
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rheumatologist
a physician specializing in rheumatic diseases
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urologist
a specialist in urology
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type of:
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medical man, medical practitioner
someone who practices medicine
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children take the roles of physician or patient or nurse and pretend they are at the physician's office
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type of:
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child's play, play
activity by children that is guided more by imagination than by fixed rules
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child's play, play
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give medical treatment to
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restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken
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Antonyms:
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break, bust
ruin completely
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break, bust, fall apart, wear, wear out
go to pieces
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types:
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fiddle, tinker
try to fix or mend
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fill
plug with a substance
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patch, piece
repair by adding pieces
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cobble
repair or mend
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point, repoint
repair the joints of bricks
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trouble-shoot, troubleshoot
solve problems
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patch, patch up
mend by putting a patch on
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resole, sole
put a new sole on
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revamp, vamp
provide (a shoe) with a new vamp
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heel, reheel
put a new heel on
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darn
repair by sewing
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close, fill up
fill or stop up
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type of:
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ameliorate, amend, better, improve, meliorate
make better
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break, bust
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alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive
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synonyms:
doctor up, sophisticate
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type of:
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adulterate, debase, dilute, load, stretch
corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones
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adulterate, debase, dilute, load, stretch
Pronunciation
US
/ˈdɑktər/
UK
/ˈdɒktə/
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