| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| doctor |
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| SYLLABICATION: | doc·tor |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  d k t r |
| NOUN: | 1. A person, especially a physician, dentist, or veterinarian, trained in the healing arts and licensed to practice. 2a. A person who has earned the highest academic degree awarded by a college or university in a specified discipline. b. A person awarded an honorary degree by a college or university. 3. abbr. Dr. Used as a title and form of address for a person holding the degree of doctor. 4. Roman Catholic Church An eminent theologian. 5. A practitioner of folk medicine or folk magic. 6. A rig or device contrived for remedying an emergency situation or for doing a special task. 7. Any of several brightly colored artificial flies used in fly fishing. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: doc·tored, doc·tor·ing, doc·tors
Informal | | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. Informal To give medical treatment to: “[He] does more than practice medicine. He doctors people. There's a difference” (Charles Kuralt). 2. To repair, especially in a makeshift manner; rig. 3a. To falsify or change in such a way as to make favorable to oneself: doctored the evidence. b. To add ingredients so as to improve or conceal the taste, appearance, or quality of: doctor the soup with a dash of sherry. See synonyms at adulterate. c. To alter or modify for a specific end: doctored my standard speech for the small-town audience. d. Baseball To deface or apply a substance to (the ball): was ejected because he doctored the ball with a piece of sandpaper. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | Informal To practice medicine. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, an expert, authority, from Old French docteur, from Latin doctor, teacher, from doc re, to teach. See dek- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | doctor·al —ADJECTIVE
doctor·ly —ADJECTIVE
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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