doctor Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a licensed medical practitioner
MD; medico; physician; doc; Dr..
- I felt so bad I went to see my doctor
noun (Roman Catholic Church) a title conferred on 33 saints who distinguished themselves through the orthodoxy of their theological teaching
Doctor of the Church.
- the Doctors of the Church greatly influenced Christian thought down to the late Middle Ages
noun children take the roles of physician or patient or nurse and pretend they are at the physician's office
- the children explored each other's bodies by playing the game of doctor
noun a person who holds Ph.D. degree (or the equivalent) from an academic institution
Dr..
- she is a doctor of philosophy in physics
verb alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive
doctor up; sophisticate.
- Sophisticate rose water with geraniol
verb give medical treatment to
verb restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken
repair; touch on; fix; furbish up; restore; mend; bushel.
- She repaired her TV set
- Repair my shoes please

OF. doctur, L. doctor, teacher, fr. docere to teach. See Docile.

A teacher; one skilled in a profession, or branch of knowledge learned man. Obs.
One of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Macciavel. Bacon.
An academical title, originally meaning a men so well versed in his department as to be qualified to teach it. Hence: One who has taken the highest degree conferred by a university or college, or has received a diploma of the highest degree; as, a doctor of divinity, of law, of medicine, of music, or of philosophy. Such diplomas may confer an honorary title only.
One duly licensed to practice medicine; a member of the medical profession; a physician.
By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death Will seize the doctor too. Shak.
Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency; as, the doctor of a calico-printing machine, which is a knife to remove superfluous coloring matter; the doctor, or auxiliary engine, called also donkey engine.
(Zoöl.) The friar skate. Prov. Eng.

imperfect & past participle Doctored ; present participle & verbal noun Doctoring

To treat as a physician does; to apply remedies to; to repair; as, to doctor a sick man or a broken cart. Colloq.
To confer a doctorate upon; to make a doctor.
To tamper with and arrange for one's own purposes; to falsify; to adulterate; as, to doctor election returns; to doctor whisky. Slang