doctor

plural doctors · alternative obsolete doctour

1. A physician; a member of the medical profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick or injured. The final examination and qualification may award a doctor degree in which case the post-nominal letters are DO, DPM, MD, DMD, or DDS in the US, or MBBS or BDS in the UK.

   If you still feel unwell tomorrow, see your doctor.

   1 more example

   By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death / Will seize the doctor too.

   1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]

   Synonyms: physician, doc, leech, physic, physician, medic, medician, medical doctor

2. A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a Ph.D. or Th.D. or one of many other terminal degrees conferred by a college or university.
3. A veterinarian; a medical practitioner who treats non-human animals.

   Synonyms: vet, veterinarian, veterinary, veterinary surgeon

4. A nickname for a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange transactions.
5. obsoleteA teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.

   one of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Macciavel

   1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC

   1 more example

   So from that tyme forwarde I began to ſmell the word of god, and forſoke the ſchole doctors and ſuch foolries.

   1552, Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[The First Sermon]”, in Certayn Godly Sermons, Made uppon the Lords Prayer, […], London: […] John Day, […], published 1562, →OCLC, folio 5, verso

6. datedAny mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.

   the doctor, or auxiliary engine, also called "donkey engine"

   2 more examples

   the doctor of a calico-printing machine, which is a knife to remove superfluous colouring matter

   The use of a disk doctor may be the only way of recovering valuable data following a disk crash.

   2010, Ramesh Bangia, Dictionary of Information Technology, page 172

7. A fish, the friar skate.
8. obsoleteA witch doctor.

   [T]he material operation is that the doctor would catch a certain species of lizard under particular circumstances at a particular time. He would croon over it the name of the man while gently rattling his ‘devil bones,’ thus calling up the evil spirit that follows these particular charmed bones.

   1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 177

9. obsoleteslangnauticalA ship's cook.

   […] old Scotch Jem the boatswain, tunes his fiddle, and the doctor, (ship's cook,) produces his tambourine; the men dance on deck, […]

   1844, William Robert Wilde, Narrative of a Voyage to Madeira, Teneriffe and Along the Shores of the Mediterranean, page 124

   1 more example

   His galley is small, and, microscopic as it is, it is shared by his brother in misery, the ship's cook, he whom the crew familiarly know as the “Doctor.”

   1881, The United Service, volume 5, page 212

present singular third person doctors · participle present doctoring · participle past doctored · past doctored · alternative obsolete doctour

1. transitiveTo act as a medical doctor to.

   Her children doctored her back to health.

2. humorousintransitiveTo act as a medical doctor.

   2017, "Do No Harm", season 8, episode 2 of Adventure Time Doctor Princess: Put this on. [gives her lab coat to Finn] OK, you're a doctor now. Good luck. Finn: Wait, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! I don't know how to doctor!

3. transitiveTo make (someone) into an (academic) doctor; to confer a doctorate upon.
4. transitiveTo physically alter (medically or surgically) a living being in order to change growth or behavior.

   We may legally doctor a pet to reduce its libido.

   1 more example

   They doctored their apple trees by vigorous pruning, and now the dwarfed trees are easier to pick.

5. transitiveTo genetically alter an extant species.

   Mendel's discoveries showed how the evolution of a species may be doctored.

6. figurativelytransitiveTo alter or make obscure, as with the intention to deceive, especially a document.

   To doctor the signature of an instrument with intent to defraud is an example of forgery.

   2 more examples

   That picture – the one that Andrew claimed on BBC’s Newsnight might have been doctored, since he had “no recollection” of then or ever meeting Giuffre at Tramp nightclub in London – will likely serve as both a prequel and postscript of the saga.

   2022 February 15, Edward Helmore, “How a picture came to symbolize the Prince Andrew sexual abuse case”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Catherine, the Princess of Wales, apologized on Monday for doctoring a photo of her with her three children, which was recalled by several news agencies on Sunday after they determined the image had been manipulated.

   2024 March 11, Mark Landler, Lauren Leatherby, “Princess of Wales Apologizes, Saying She Edited Image”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

7. transitiveTo adulterate, drug, or poison (drink).

   There is no doubt that a few months ago Creake deliberately planned to poison her with some weed-killer. […] The gist of it was that she had the strongest suspicion that Creake doctored a bottle of stout which he expected she would drink for her supper when she was alone.

   1914, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados

8. intransitiveobsoleteTo take medicine.

1. abbreviationShort for Fremantle Doctor.

plural Doctors

1. The title of an academic or medical doctor; used before or instead of the doctor's name.

   The students asked to see Doctor Jones.

   3 more examples

   Doctor Smith carried out the medical procedure.

   Well, Doctor, what do you think? Will he live?

   They talked of the experiments of Dr. Darwin, (I speak not of what the Doctor really did, or said that he did, but, as more to my purpose, of what was then spoken of as having been done by him,) who preserved a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary motion.

   1831 October 15, Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, “Introduction”, in Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; IX), 3rd edition, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], published 31 October 1831, →OCLC, pages ix–x

   Synonyms: Dr, Dr.

1. A mnemonic to help remember the difference between the Spanish verbs ser and estar (both meaning "to be"); ser is generally used for: Descriptions, Occupations, Characteristics, Times, Origins, and Relationships.

   You can use the acronyms DOCTOR and PLACE to help you remember ser vs. estar, particularly for more specific cases when you’re not sure which verb to use.

   2021 November 18, Lydia Schapiro, “Ser and Estar: Mastering Spanish Conjugations”, in My Private Professor

   2 more examples

   SER is used to classify or identify attributes like, description, occupation, characteristic, time, origin or relationship. The acronym D-O-C-T-O-R could be helpful to remember it.

   2016 May, Edwin Alverio, ¡Manos a la Obra!, page 60

   Let's look at DOCTOR and ser first. To recap, ser is used when discussing permanent states – about what something is – and this acronym is a useful trick to remind us what those permanent states are.

   2023 November 21, Nadiia Mykhalevych, “Ser vs. estar: Understanding Spanish “to be” verbs”, in Preply Blog