doctoral

Variant of doctor

noun

  1. Archaic a teacher or learned man
  2. a person who holds a doctorate
  3. a physician or surgeon (MD)
  4. a person licensed to practice any of the healing arts, as an osteopath, dentist, veterinarian, etc.
  5. a title used in addressing any person who holds a doctorate
  6. a witch doctor or medicine man
  7. a makeshift device, apparatus, etc., for emergency use
  8. a bright-colored artificial fly used in fishing

Origin: ME doctour, teacher, learned man < OFr or < L doctor, teacher < pp. of docere, to teach: see decent

transitive verb

  1. to try to heal; apply medicine to
  2. to repair; mend
  3. to make suitable or improve by altering in a certain way
  4. to tamper with or change in order to deceive: to doctor accounts

intransitive verb

  1. Informal to practice medicine
  2. Dialectal to undergo medical treatment, take medicine, etc.

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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