# doctor

Pronunciation: US say "DOK-tur" /ˈdɑktɚ/; UK say "DOK-tuh" /ˈdɒktə(ɹ)/

## Noun

1. A physician; a member of the medical profession, trained and licensed to heal the sick or injured.
   - Simple: A person trained and licensed to treat sick or injured people.
   - _The doctor prescribed antibiotics for the chest infection._
   - _Several doctors reviewed the patient's scans before the surgery._
2. A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a PhD or ThD, conferred by a college or university.
   - Simple: A person who has earned the highest university degree, such as a PhD.
   - _The keynote was delivered by a doctor of theology from Oxford._
   - _Everyone on the panel was a doctor, though their degrees were in economics and law rather than medicine._
6. A veterinarian, that is, someone who provides medical care to animals rather than to people.
   - Simple: A trained expert who treats sick or hurt animals.
   - _The farm called the doctor when the cow stopped eating._
   - _Animal doctors at the zoo monitor the elephants closely._
8. A nickname for someone with special knowledge or skill in manipulating or arranging transactions.
   - Simple: A nickname for a person who is very good at arranging or cleverly handling deals.
   - _Around the trading floor he was simply the doctor, the man called in whenever a merger stalled._
   - _Colleagues called her the doctor because she could rescue a contract that both sides had abandoned._

## Verb

3. To change or tamper with something secretly in order to deceive or harm, such as falsifying a document or adding a drug to a drink.
   - Simple: To secretly change something to trick people, like changing a document or putting a drug in a drink.
   - _Editors must never doctor a quotation to change its meaning._
   - _The clerk doctored the official report before submitting it._
4. To improve something by repairing it, patching it, or adding to it so it works, looks, or tastes better, with no wish to mislead. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To fix or add to something so it works, looks, or tastes better, not to trick anyone.
   - _Most home bakers doctor a boxed cake mix with an extra egg and real butter._
   - _My uncle doctored up the old pickup with spare parts and kept it on the road for another year._
5. To give medical treatment to someone; to work as a doctor.
   - Simple: To treat sick or hurt people, or to work as a doctor.
   - _She doctored the wounded soldiers through the long winter._
   - _Volunteers helped doctor the injured after the earthquake._
7. To alter a living creature, for example by neutering it or changing its genes, to control its growth, breeding, or behavior.
   - Simple: To change an animal, for example by an operation or by changing its genes, to control how it grows, breeds or behaves.
   - _Years ago we paid the vet to doctor our tomcat, and he hasn't wandered off at night since._
   - _Back on the ranch, every tomcat got doctored by his first birthday, or else the barn would be overrun with kittens._

## Noun

9. A teacher or learned person; someone skilled in a profession or branch of knowledge. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A learned teacher or expert in some field of knowledge.
10. The cook aboard a ship; a sailors' nickname for the member of the crew who prepares the food. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The person who cooks the meals on a ship.

## Verb

11. To take medicine; to treat oneself with medicine. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To take medicine in order to get better.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To confer a doctorate upon someone; to make someone an academic doctor.
- (noun) A mechanical device of any kind, contrived to solve a problem or meet a sudden need.
- (noun) A type of sea fish, the friar skate.

## Origin

This word comes from Middle English doctor or doctour ("an expert or authority on a subject"), borrowed via Anglo-Norman doctour from Latin doctor ("teacher"), from doceō ("to teach"). It replaced the native English words lerare ("teacher") and lǣċe ("physician").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/doctor (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).