DOCTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Doctor mean? 

• DOCTOR (noun)
  The noun DOCTOR has 4 senses:

1. a licensed medical practitioner

2. (Roman Catholic Church) a title conferred on 33 saints who distinguished themselves through the orthodoxy of their theological teaching

3. children take the roles of physician or patient or nurse and pretend they are at the physician's office

4. a person who holds Ph.D. degree (or the equivalent) from an academic institution

  Familiarity information: DOCTOR used as a noun is uncommon.

• DOCTOR (verb)
  The verb DOCTOR has 3 senses:

1. alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive

2. give medical treatment to

3. restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

  Familiarity information: DOCTOR used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DOCTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A licensed medical practitioner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

doc; doctor; Dr.; MD; medico; physician

Context example:

I felt so bad I went to see my doctor

Hypernyms ("doctor" is a kind of...):

medical man; medical practitioner (someone who practices medicine)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "doctor"):

allergist (a physician skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies)

abortionist (a person (who should be a doctor) who terminates pregnancies)

vet; veterinarian; veterinary; veterinary surgeon (a doctor who practices veterinary medicine)

operating surgeon; sawbones; surgeon (a physician who specializes in surgery)

medical specialist; specialist (practices one branch of medicine)

quack (an untrained person who pretends to be a physician and who dispenses medical advice)

primary care physician (the physician who provides primary care)

houseman; intern; interne; medical intern (an advanced student or graduate in medicine gaining supervised practical experience ('houseman' is a British term))

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)

hakeem; hakim (a Muslim physician)

general practitioner; GP (a physician who is not a specialist but treats all illnesses)

gastroenterologist (a physician who specializes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract)

extern; medical extern (a nonresident doctor or medical student; connected with a hospital but not living there)

angiologist (a physician who specializes in angiology)

Instance hyponyms:

Paracelsus; Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus; 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))

Harry F. Klinefelter; Harry Fitch Kleinfelter; Klinefelter (United States physician who first described the XXY-syndrome (born in 1912))

Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier; Lozier (United States physician who in 1863 founded a medical school for women (1813-1888))

Manson; Sir Patrick Manson (Scottish physician who discovered that elephantiasis is spread by mosquitos and suggested that mosquitos also spread malaria (1844-1922))

Franz Anton Mesmer; Friedrich Anton Mesmer; Mesmer (Austrian physician who tried to treat diseases with a form of hypnotism (1734-1815))

Edward Jenner; Jenner (English physician who pioneered vaccination; Jenner inoculated people with small amounts of cowpox to prevent them from getting smallpox (1749-1823))

Peter Mark Roget; Roget (English physician who in retirement compiled a well-known thesaurus (1779-1869))

Ross; Sir Ronald Ross (British physician who discovered that mosquitos transmit malaria (1857-1932))

Benjamin Rush; Rush (physician and American Revolutionary leader; signer of the Declaration of Independence (1745-1813))

Albert Schweitzer; Schweitzer (French philosopher and physician and organist who spent most of his life as a medical missionary in Gabon (1875-1965))

Anna Howard Shaw; Shaw (United States physician and suffragist (1847-1919))

Simpson; Sir James Young Simpson (Scottish obstetrician and surgeon who pioneered in the use of ether and discovered the anesthetic effects of chloroform (1811-1870))

English Hippocrates; Sydenham; Thomas Sydenham (English physician (1624-1689))

E. A. von Willebrand; Erik Adolf von Willebrand; Erik von Willebrand; von Willebrand; Willebrand (Finnish physician who first described vascular hemophilia (1870-1949))

George Huntington; Huntington (United States physician who first described Huntington's chorea)

Aletta Jacobs; Jacobs (Dutch physician who opened the first birth control clinic in the world in Amsterdam (1854-1929))

Abul-Walid Mohammed ibn-Ahmad Ibn-Mohammed ibn-Roshd; Averroes; ibn-Roshd (Arabian philosopher born in Spain; wrote detailed commentaries on Aristotle that were admired by the Schoolmen (1126-1198))

Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina; Avicenna; ibn-Sina (Persian physician and influential philosopher; his interpretation of Aristotle influenced St. Thomas Aquinas; writings on medicine were important for almost 500 years (980-1037))

Barany; Robert Barany (Austrian physician who developed a rotational method for testing the middle ear (1876-1936))

Bartholin; Caspar Bartholin (Danish physician who discovered Bartholin's gland (1585-1629))

Bruce; David Bruce; Sir David Bruce (Australian physician and bacteriologist who described the bacterium that causes undulant fever or brucellosis (1855-1931))

Burrill Bernard Crohn; 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))

Down; John L. H. Down (English physician who first described Down's syndrome (1828-1896))

Christiaan Eijkman; Eijkman (Dutch physician who discovered that beriberi is caused by a nutritional deficiency (1858-1930))

Etienne-Louis Arthur Fallot; Fallot (French physician who described cardiac anomalies including Fallot's tetralogy (1850-1911))

Gilbert; William Gilbert (English court physician noted for his studies of terrestrial magnetism (1540-1603))

Harvey; 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))

Hodgkin; Thomas Hodgkin (English physician who first described Hodgkin's disease (1798-1866))

Holonyms ("doctor" is a member of...):

doctor-patient relation (the responsibility of a physician to act in the best interests of the patient)

Derivation:

doctor (give medical treatment to)

doctorial (of or relating to a doctor or doctorate)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(Roman Catholic Church) a title conferred on 33 saints who distinguished themselves through the orthodoxy of their theological teaching

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Doctor; Doctor of the Church

Context example:

the Doctors of the Church greatly influenced Christian thought down to the late Middle Ages

Hypernyms ("Doctor" is a kind of...):

theologian; theologiser; theologist; theologizer (someone who is learned in theology or who speculates about theology)

Domain category:

Church of Rome; Roman Catholic; Roman Catholic Church; Roman Church; Western Church (the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy)

Instance hyponyms:

John Chrysostom; St. John Chrysostom ((Roman Catholic Church) a Church Father who was a great preacher and bishop of Constantinople; a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-407))

Eusebius Hieronymus; Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Hieronymus; Jerome; Saint Jerome; St. Jerome ((Roman Catholic Church) one of the great Fathers of the early Christian Church whose major work was his translation of the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (which became the Vulgate); a saint and Doctor of the Church (347-420))

Irenaeus; Saint Irenaeus; St. Irenaeus (Greek theologian who was bishop of Lyons and an antiheretical writer; a saint and Doctor of the Church (circa 130-200))

Gregory; Gregory Nazianzen; Gregory of Nazianzen; St. Gregory of Nazianzen ((Roman Catholic Church) a church father known for his constant fight against perceived heresies; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-391))

Basil; Basil of Caesarea; Basil the Great; St. Basil; St. Basil the Great ((Roman Catholic Church) the bishop of Caesarea who defended the Roman Catholic Church against the heresies of the 4th century; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-379))

Gregory; Gregory I; Gregory the Great; Saint Gregory I; St. Gregory I ((Roman Catholic Church) an Italian pope distinguished for his spiritual and temporal leadership; a saint and Doctor of the Church (540?-604))

Augustine; Augustine of Hippo; Saint Augustine; St. Augustine ((Roman Catholic Church) one of the great Fathers of the early Christian church; after a dramatic conversion to Christianity he became bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa; St. Augustine emphasized man's need for grace (354-430))

Athanasius; Athanasius the Great; Saint Athanasius; St. Athanasius ((Roman Catholic Church) Greek patriarch of Alexandria who championed Christian orthodoxy against Arianism; a church father, saint, and Doctor of the Church (293-373))

Aquinas; Saint Thomas; Saint Thomas Aquinas; St. Thomas; St. Thomas Aquinas; Thomas Aquinas ((Roman Catholic Church) Italian theologian and Doctor of the Church who is remembered for his attempt to reconcile faith and reason in a comprehensive theology; presented philosophical proofs of the existence of God (1225-1274))

Ambrose; Saint Ambrose; St. Ambrose ((Roman Catholic Church) Roman priest who became bishop of Milan; the first Church Father born and raised in the Christian faith; composer of hymns; imposed orthodoxy on the early Christian church and built up its secular power; a saint and Doctor of the Church (340?-397))

Baeda; Beda; Bede; Saint Baeda; Saint Beda; Saint Bede; St. Baeda; St. Beda; St. Bede; the Venerable Bede ((Roman Catholic Church) English monk and scholar (672-735))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Children take the roles of physician or patient or nurse and pretend they are at the physician's office

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the children explored each other's bodies by playing the game of doctor

Hypernyms ("doctor" is a kind of...):

child's play; play (activity by children that is guided more by imagination than by fixed rules)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A person who holds Ph.D. degree (or the equivalent) from an academic institution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

doctor; Dr.

Context example:

she is a doctor of philosophy in physics

Hypernyms ("doctor" is a kind of...):

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)

Derivation:

doctoral; doctorial (of or relating to a doctor or doctorate)

• DOCTOR (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they doctor    ... he / she / it doctors   
Past simple: doctored   
Past participle: doctored   
-ing form: doctoring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

doctor; doctor up; sophisticate

Context example:

Sophisticate rose water with geraniol

Hypernyms (to "doctor" is one way to...):

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)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give medical treatment to

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "doctor" is one way to...):

care for; treat (provide treatment for)

Domain category:

medicine; practice of medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "doctor"):

vet (provide veterinary care for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

doctor (a licensed medical practitioner)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

bushel; doctor; fix; furbish up; mend; repair; restore; touch on

Context example:

Repair my shoes please

Hypernyms (to "doctor" is one way to...):

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "doctor"):

darn (repair by sewing)

heel; reheel (put a new heel on)

revamp; vamp (provide (a shoe) with a new vamp)

resole; sole (put a new sole on)

patch; patch up (mend by putting a patch on)

trouble-shoot; troubleshoot (solve problems)

point; repoint (repair the joints of bricks)

cobble (repair or mend)

patch; piece (repair by adding pieces)

fill (plug with a substance)

fiddle; tinker (try to fix or mend)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

The fifth servant, however, crept into the stove to hear if the doctor knew still more.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Nicolás Olea, Professor of Radiology and Physical Medicine at the UGR and a doctor at the San Cecilio Hospital, is the main author of this study.

(Babies in neonatal intensive care units are exposed to harmful chemical substances found in plastic, University of Granada)

"We could use it to measure incoming blood flow to the aneurysm sac to determine how well the aneurysm is healing, and to alert doctors if blood flow changes."

(Stretchable wireless sensor could monitor healing of cerebral aneurysms, National Science Foundation)

Early detection of amanitin in a patient's urine would help doctors trying to make a diagnosis.

(New Test Identifies Poisonous Mushrooms, Agricultural Research Service)

I had a blood test one time that seemed weird to my doctor and me—and not in a good way.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

There's an even greater likelihood of developing "masked hypertension," a condition that often goes undetected during routine doctor's visits, researchers found.

(High Blood Pressure Liked to Long Hours on Job, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Haas said that the findings underscore the need for doctors to focus on the health histories of women.

(First-time pregnancy complications linked to increased risk of hypertension later in life, National Institutes of Health)

Doctors usually find them during surgery to diagnose other problems.

(Adhesions, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

The findings suggest that measuring and targeting TMAO levels—something doctors can do with a simple blood test—may be a promising new strategy for individualizing diets and helping to prevent heart disease.

(Study links frequent red meat consumption to high levels of chemical associated with heart disease, National Institutes of Health)

The girl hadn’t responded to any medications her doctors had tried.

(Gene linked to rare inflammatory disease in children, NIH)