# doctor

/ˈdɑktɝ/ (US) · /dˈɒktɐ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/doctor
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. medical professional

noun · CEFR A1

a person who is trained and licensed to treat people who are ill or injured.

For teachers: a qualified practitioner of medicine; a physician or surgeon.

- If your cough does not get better, you should see a doctor.
- The resident doctor performed a thorough examination before referring the patient to a specialist for further diagnostic testing.

### 2. academic title

noun · CEFR B1

a person who has the highest level of degree from a university, like a PhD.

For teachers: a person who has been awarded a doctorate, the highest academic degree conferred by a university.

- She is a doctor of history and teaches at the local university.
- After five years of rigorous research and a successful thesis defense, he was finally entitled to call himself a doctor of philosophy.

### 4. to add something to food/drink

verb · CEFR C1 · Informal

to add something, like a drug or a strong chemical, to food or drink without someone knowing.

For teachers: to adulterate or contaminate food or drink by adding a foreign substance, often a drug.

- He realized his coffee had been doctored when he started feeling very sleepy.
- The athlete claimed that a rival had doctored his water bottle with a prohibited substance to trigger a positive drug test.

### 5. ship's cook

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Slang

an old name for a cook on a ship.

For teachers: a traditional nautical nickname for a ship's cook.

- In the old story, the sailors complained to the doctor about the salty soup.
- Life aboard a nineteenth-century merchant vessel was harsh, and the men often directed their frustrations toward the doctor when rations grew thin.

## Examples

- The doctor gives me some medicine for my cough.
- If your fever does not go down by tomorrow morning, you should call the doctor for advice.
- After years of rigorous clinical training and residency, she finally achieved her goal of becoming a paediatric doctor at the city's largest teaching hospital.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.