▪ I. doctor, n.
(ˈdɒktə(r))
Forms: 4–7 doctour, (4–5 -ur, -oure, 5 doktor), 5– doctor.
[a. OF. doctor (-ur, -our, -eur), ad. L. doctor, -ōrem teacher, agent-n. from docēre to teach.]
1. a. A teacher, instructor; one who gives instruction in some branch of knowledge, or inculcates opinions or principles. (Const. of.) Now rare.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 43 Seynt Austyn þe firste doctour [= prothodoctor] of Englischemen. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 1 Saynt Poul, doctour of verite. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. i. 20 The heauenly doctour Christe Jesus. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) Matt. xxiii. 10 Be not called Doctors, for ther is but one your Doctor, and he is Christe. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 73 One of the most zealous Doctors of the contrary Opinion. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 32 These new Doctors of the rights of men. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. App. 77 St. Augustine..is the doctor of the great and common view that all untruths are lies. |
† b. spec. (Sc.) An assistant-master in a school.
| 1630 Burgh Recds. Perth in Grant Burgh Sch. Scot. 147. 1640 Burgh Recds. Edin. ibid. 147 For the tryell of the maister and doctors in teatching. 1695 Sibbald Autobiog. (1834) 129 Mr. Heugh Wallace was master. Mr. Francis Cockburn, Mr. Samuel Macom and Mr. John Wardlaw were doctors of the [Edinburgh High] school. |
2. a. One who, by reason of his skill in any branch of knowledge, is competent to teach it, or whose attainments entitle him to express an authoritative opinion; an eminently learned man. arch.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 12577 heading (Fairf.), Ihesus disputed wiþ þe doctours. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. Prol., An introductorie aftur the statutz of owre doctours. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 145 Dukes and duspers and doctours noble. c 1510 More Picus Wks. 3/1 He scrupulously sought out all the famous doctours of his time. 1732 Pope Ep. Bathurst 1 Who shall decide, when Doctors disagree? 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Intellect Wks. (Bohn) I. 135 The wisest doctor is gravelled by the inquisitiveness of a child. |
† b. transf. One who is eminently skilled in a particular art or craft. Obs.
| 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V (an. 10) 82 This kyng..in marcial affaires a very doctor. 1602 Rowlands Greenes Ghost 18 He indeed was a doctor in his arte [of Cutpurses]. |
3. spec. applied to: a. the Doctors of the Church, certain early ‘fathers’ distinguished by their eminent learning, so as to have been teachers not only in the Church, but of the Church, and by their heroic sanctity; esp. in the Western Church, the four, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory (so named in the canon law), and, in the Eastern Church, the four, Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Nazianzum, and Chrysostom. b. The leading Schoolmen of mediæval philosophy.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 11007 Seynt Gregory..telleþ mo hymself a lone Þan alle þe doctours do echone. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 294 Þe douȝtiest doctour..austyn þe olde and hiȝeste of þe foure. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 1447 Austyn and Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose..the foure doctorus. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 46 Autentyk doctours apprevit be the auctorite of haly kirk..as Hierome, Ambrose..Chrisostome. 1788 Reid Aristotle's Log. iv. §6. 97 The Scholastic Doctors..tortured..the modal syllogisms. 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. xiv. iii. (1867) IX. 119 Doctors, who assumed the splendid titles of the Angelical, the Seraphic, the Irrefragable [Aquinas, Bonaventura, Alexander Hales]. |
4. a. One who, in any faculty or branch of learning, has attained to the highest degree conferred by a University; a title originally implying competency to teach such subject or subjects, but now merely regarded as a certificate of the highest proficiency therein.
The degree is now often conferred by Universities as an honorary compliment upon distinguished statesmen, authors, divines, etc.: Doctor of Civil Law by Oxford and Durham, Doctor of Laws by Cambridge, Dublin, etc., Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, etc., by many Universities. Lambeth Doctor: one on whom the Archbishop of Canterbury has conferred the degree.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 373 Doctoures of decres and of diuinitie maistres. a 1400–50 Alexander 234 A clerke..diȝt as a Doctour in drabland wedis. 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1170/1 You y{supt} haue bene at lerning so long, and are doctor. 1551 T. Wilson Logike (1567) 33 a, I heard ones a doctour of Diuinitie, whiche was not so greate in knowlege as he was in title. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 107 Many Medicasters, pretenders to Physick, buy the degree of Doctor abroad. 1684 Lond. Gaz. No. 1945/4 Dr. Nic. Stagins..was..admitted to the Degree of Doctor of Musick. 1710 Hearne Collect. 4 Feb., Dr. West's (he is only a Lambeth Doctor) sermon. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1765, Trinity College, Dublin, at this time surprised Johnson with a spontaneous compliment of the highest academical honours, by creating him Doctor of Laws. 1843 Miall in Nonconf. III. 737 To make Prince Albert a doctor of laws. |
b. Prefixed, as title, to the name (now usually abbreviated Dr.), and in addressing a person.
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7004 Jarow..Whare doctour bede leuyd and dyed. 1455 Paston Lett. No. 257 I. 350 Oon Doktor Grene, a preest. 1501 Bury Wills (Camden) 90 Mast{supr} Doctor Curteys, the prior of the Fryers Austyns in Norwysche. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 3 My master, master Docter Caius. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 10 The Master of the Colledge Mr. Dr. Chaderton. 1778 in Boswell Johnson 17 April, Why, doctor, you look stout and hearty. 1882 Edna Lyall Donovan iii, Dr. Tremain was standing by the window. 1895 Ian Maclaren Auld Lang Syne ii. v. 113 Doctor Davidson motioned to the Free Church minister to take his place at the head. |
† c. Doctor of the Chair: a professor in a university; cf. chair n. 6. Obs.
| a 1634 Randolph Muses' Looking-Glass ii. iv. Wks. (1875) 213 Thou shalt be doctor o' th' chair. 1659 Rushw. Hist. Coll. I. 62 A Sermon preached by Robert Abbot, Doctor of the Chair in Oxford. |
5. Hence used with express or implied specification of: a. One who is proficient in knowledge of theology: a learned divine.
| a 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. iv. 148 Þus Doctours han I-souht. 1377 [see 4]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xii. 97 For doctor he is yknowe And of scripture þe skylful. 1550 Bale Apol. 50 (R.) Y⊇ best of your doctours in expownynge the Scriptures. 1680 Otway Orphan ii. i, Thanking a surly Doctor for his Sermon. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 244 He heard only the humming of the doctors as they served forth to congregations of poor men hungering for spiritual sustenance the draff of theological superstition. |
b. One who is proficient in knowledge of law.
Till 1857 barristers practising in the Court of Arches were required to take the degree of doctor. For the honorary doctors of law, see 4.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 238 Þat conscience and cryst hath yknitte faste, Þei vndon it vnworthily þo doctours of lawe. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 1024 Doctur of bothe lawes, beynge in science digne. 1588 J. Udall Diotrephes (Arb.) 12 Why did you not rather take some doctour of the Arches? 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 144 This Letter from Bellario doth commend A yong and Learned Doctor to our Court. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 23 With the gravity of a doctor expounding ecclesiastical law. |
6. a. spec. A doctor of medicine; in popular current use, applied to any medical practitioner. Also, a wizard or medicine-man in a primitive tribe.
| [1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 362 Þe bitternesse þat þow hast browe brouke it þi-seluen, Þat art doctour of deth, drynke þat þow madest! c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 411 Wiþ vs þere was a Doctur of Phesike.] c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 73 Of rasis auicen & galion & of oþere doctouris. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. i. 106 Shall I loose my Doctor? No: hee giues me the Potions and the Motions. 1699 Dryden Ep. to J. Driden 71 So liv'd our Sires, ere doctors learn'd to kill. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 182 Our doctors themselves (so we call the surgeons at sea). 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) ii, Veterinarius, a farrier, a horse doctor. 1858 Compendium of Kaffir Laws & Customs 123 Doctors are not entitled to fees, except a cure is performed, or the patient relieved. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. xv, A common country doctor. 1884 Gilmour Mongols 180 They apply to the missionary in his capacity of doctor..and..want him only in so far as he is a doctor. |
b. fig. Applied humorously to any agent that gives or preserves health; esp. in the West Indies, S. Africa, and W. Australia, a cool sea-breeze which usually prevails during part of the day in summer. colloq.
| 1660 Howell Parly of Beasts 23 (D.) After those two, Doctor Diet and Doctor Quiet, Doctor Merriman is requisit to preserve health. 1740 Hist. Jamaica ii. 21 The People here give it [the sea-breeze] the name of Doctor, and truly it deserves the Title. 1823 Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1824) 55 Each horseman gulped down a doctor, to counteract the effects of the raw morning air. 1844 Knickerbocker XXIII. 46 [In St. Augustine] we were beginning the summer custom of gathering every morning to meet the ‘doctor’ (sea-breeze) on the square. 1856 F. Fleming Southern Africa iv. 62 The South-easter, from blowing all pestilent vapours and effluvia out to sea..has obtained the local epithet of ‘the Doctor’. 1861, etc. [see Cape doctor s.v. cape n.3 4]. |
c. One who mends or repairs; esp. with a qualifying word; also transf.; spec., see quot. 1899. colloq.
| 1899 Daily News 2 Mar. 9/1 The owner, nervous about a vessel, wants a further insurance, and the ‘doctor’ procures it for him... The ‘doctor’ is a broker who deals particularly with the overdue vessels. 1922 A. Haddon Green Room Gossip iv. 97 Miss Platt is a professional play-reader and ‘play doctor’. 1938 M. Lane E. Wallace iv. i. 319 Du Maurier was a skilful ‘play doctor’, and the final script..bore only a family resemblance to the drama which Edgar had written at top speed. |
d. Colloq. phr. what the doctor ordered, transf. and fig.: something beneficial or desirable; you are (freq. you're) the doctor: you are the expert; it is for you to decide.
| 1907 ‘O. Henry’ Trimmed Lamp (1915) 95 You are the lady doctor. 1914 Dialect Notes IV. 71 She thought Ezry was jest what the doctor ordered. 1920 R. Macaulay Potterism i. iv. 50 Very well, mother. You're the doctor. [1922 Joyce Ulysses 257 And what did the doctor order today?..I think I'll trouble you for some fresh water and a half glass of whisky.] 1948 G. Vidal City & Pillar i. i. 16 The waiter brought her a drink. ‘Just what the doctor ordered,’ she said, smiling at him. 1950 Wodehouse Nothing Serious 61 ‘You admired my little friend?’ ‘She is what the doctor ordered.’ 1962 ‘H. Howard’ Double Finesse ix. 106 You're the doctor. Go ahead and open it. 1969 C. Young Todd Dossier 120 The thing to do now was relax..and forget about it. ‘Okay, you're the doctor,’ Charlie said. |
7. transf. A name given to various mechanical appliances, usually for curing or removing defects, regulating, adjusting, or feeding. a. Calico-printing and Paper-making. A thin blade of metal used to remove superfluous colour, loose threads, dust, etc. from the cylinder (a calico-printing machine has a colour-doctor, a lint-doctor, and a cleaning-doctor; see quots.). b. A tool used for soldering. c. An auxiliary steam-engine for feeding the boiler; a donkey-engine. d. Electro-plating. e. Photogravure. Also doctor blade.
| 1796 Specif. Wild & Ridge's Patent No. 2134 (title), Manufacturing..steel doctors for printers. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 316 A heated doctor, or soldering bit. 1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 96 (Calico-printer) The polished surface is cleared by the scraper called the ‘doctor’. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Doctor..(Calico-printing)..The cleaning-doctor, which wipes clean the surface of the roller. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts I. 590 The lint-doctor, whose office it is to remove any fibres which may have come off the calico in the act of printing. Ibid. 603 The superfluous colour is..wiped off by the colour doctors..These doctors are thin blades of steel or brass, which are mounted in doctor-shears, or plates of metal screwed together with bolts. 1886 A. Watt Electro-Deposition xiv. 184 The pad, or ‘doctor’, as it is sometimes called, is dipped in the gold solution and applied to the part to be gilt. 1926 C. N. Bennett Elem. Photogravure xviii. 117 Rapid rotary gravure [was] made definitely commercial, by the introduction of what is known as ‘doctor wiping’. Ibid. 118 One side of the doctor is clamped firmly in a ‘carriage’ or holder, while the free, or ‘wiping’, edge is caused to press upon the printing cylinder at a slight angle. 1930 H. M. Cartwright Photogravure vii. 92 The cylinder receives ink from the inking or ‘furnishing’ roller... The ink is removed from the cylinder surface by means of the doctor. 1943 Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (B.S.I.) 101 Doctor, an anode covered with fabric or sponge saturated with the plating solution and applied locally to the article to be plated, which is made the cathode. 1961 T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 119/2 Doctor blade, a flexible knife which removes surplus ink from engraved plate in intaglio printing, e.g. photogravure. 1967 Karch & Buber Offset Processes 536 Doctor blade, a ‘knife’ of rigid plastic or thin sheet-metal which presses against the gravure press cylinder, and which wipes away ink from the surface of the cylinder. |
8. A fish of the genus Acanthurus: also called doctor-fish and surgeon-fish: see quot. 1850.
| 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 68 The name of ‘Doctors’, by which they are well known to the English sailors and colonists. 1834 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. 50 Its name is the ‘Doctor Fish’. c 1850 Nat. Encycl. I. 97 Termed Doctors..because they are armed on each side of the tail with a sharp moveable spine like a lancet, which they use with great effect. |
9. Angling. A kind of artificial fly.
| 1860 C. M. Yonge Hopes & Fears I. ii. iv. 229 The doctor..and all her other radiant fabrications of ..feathers. 1867 F. Francis Angling x. (1880) 341 The Doctor..is a very general and deserved favourite. 1895 Daily News 22 Aug. 6/2 With fine tackle and a very small Blue Doctor. |
10. Something used to ‘doctor’ or adulterate food or drink; e.g. a liquor mixed with inferior wine to make it more palatable, or with light-coloured wine (as sherry) to darken it; hence, a name for brown sherry. (slang or colloq.)
| 1770 C. Jenner Placid Man I. 84 The governor was as happy if he drank his Doctor next to a man who talked to him upon any thing. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue (Farmer), Doctor, a composition used by distillers to make spirits appear stronger than they really are. 1828 G. Smeaton Doings in London (Farmer), Maton, in his ‘Tricks of Bakers Unmasked’, says alum, which is called the Doctor..is sold to the bakers at fourpence per pound. |
11. (Naut.) A ship's cook; (U.S. and Australian) the men's cook at a station or camp. (colloq.)
| 1821 Massachusetts Spy 1 Aug. (Th.), The cook, at sea, is generally called doctor. 1835 J. H. Ingraham South-West I. vi. 69 All [the crew] neatly dressed in white trousers and shirts, even to the sable ‘Doctor’ and his ‘sub’. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Doctor, the cook on board a ship. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Doctor..a jocular name for the ship's cook. 1892 Lentzner Australian Word-bk. 20 Doctor, the (up-country), the men's cook on a station. 1893 Funk Standard Dict., Doctor..6. (Local, U.S.) The cook in a logging-camp. 1902 W. S. Walker Zealandia's Guerdon v. 55 ‘Cook-shop for all hands’... Close by this building is the ‘doctor's’—cook's—residence. |
12. Old slang. A false or loaded die.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Doctor, a false Die, that will run but two or three Chances. They put the Doctor upon him, they cheated him with false Dice. 1721 Cibber Woman's Wit 1, The old Rogue..wou'd ha' put the Doctor upon me..(unknown to him) I flung away the Doctor, and clapt into the Box a Pair of true Mathematics. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. xii. 1774 Foote Cozeners i. Wks. 1799 II. 153. 1801 Sporting Mag. XVIII. 7 Loaded a couple of the Doctors for throwing a seven and nine. |
13. Comb., as doctor-farrier, doctor-like (adj. and adv.), doctor-maker, doctor-monger; doctor-box, a form of colour-box in a calico-printing machine, of which the ‘doctor’ (7 a) forms the bottom; doctor's curse (see quot.); doctor-fish = sense 8; doctor-gum, ‘a South-American gum, also calledLog-gum usually considered to be a product of Rhus metopium’ (Cent. Dict.); doctor's gum, the West Indian tree Rhus metopium; also, see quot. 1887; doctor-shears (see 7 a); doctor's stuff (colloq.), medicine, physic (also doctor-stuff). See also Doctors' Commons.
| 1821 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 226, I..took the *doctor's curse, or, in other words, a dose of calomel. |
| 1638 Ford Fancies v. ii, Some *doctor-farriers are of opinion that the mare may cast a foal. |
| 1858 *Doctor's gum [see hog gum]. 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 279 Hog or Doctor's gum, Gamboge tree (Symphonia globulifera). |
| 1549 Chaloner Erasm. on Folly M j b, This Definicion..was not..*doctourlike sette foorth by hym. 1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 41, I told them merilie, They must first make me a Doctor-like maintenance, ere I would take the degree of Doctor. |
| 1884 Chr. World 10 Jan. 17/5 A ‘*doctor-maker’ is the maker of a particular metal plate called a ‘doctor’. |
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xvi. 87 Summe of ȝou ben clepid *Doctour mongers. |
| 1772 Graves Spirit. Quix. x. xvii. (D.), The man said..he could not take *Doctor's stuff, if he died for it. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xv. 171 Like doctor-stuff generally, it is not as appetizing as desirable. |
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈdoctordom, the world of doctors, doctors collectively. ˈdoctorhead, ˈdoctorhood, the position or rank of a doctor. ˈdoctorless a., without a doctor.
| 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 542/2 Thinketh your doctourhed that the children of Israell..could not haue made..excuse? 1849 Thackeray Pendennis vi, A match for all the Doctors in Doctordom. 1870 Daily News 5 Dec., The shibboleth of doctorhood. 1885 Athenæum 12 Dec. 764 Our butcherless, bakerless..doctorless..and altogether comfortless jungle. |
Add: [6.] e. Doctor Feelgood (usu. written as Dr.), a physician who readily prescribes mood-enhancing drugs, such as amphetamines, esp. for non-medicinal use; hence, any doctor who provides short-term palliatives rather than a more effective treatment or cure; also transf. and attrib.
The term seems to have been first used as a simple self-designation (without any of the later negative connotations) by the blues pianist ‘Piano Red’ (William Perryman) who broadcast, and subsequently recorded, under this sobriquet. The words of the 1967 hit song which popularized the phrase do, however, suggest awareness of the sense described above.
| [1962 ‘Piano Red’ (title of record) Dr. Feelgood and the Interns.] 1967 A. Franklin & T. White in Doctor Feelgood (song) Don't send me no doctor Filling me up with all those pills Got a man named Dr. Feelgood That man takes care of all of my pains and my ills. 1967 J. Kramer Instant Replay (1968) 40 Ever since then, we've called him ‘Doctor Feelgood’. 1973 Oui Apr. 55 Dr. Feelgood used to shoot Duke What's-His-Name in the ass every week or so with a nice mixture of speed and vitamins. 1975 Business Week (Industr. ed.) 24 Nov. 12/2 [There are those] who treat the famous, and those who are famous because they treat disease better than other doctors. Among the former, you might find the Dr. Feelgoods and the Marcus Welby types who offer concern and gentle bedside manners at very high prices. 1978 Time 9 Oct. 45/1 The Carter Administration has responded with a Dr. Feelgood litany that the dollar's health is sound... But the world's money traders are not buying that happy talk. 1981 Washington Post 14 Aug. a29/5 We have here a problem that Ronald Reagan is peculiarly suited to address. He is no phony Dr. Feelgood. He is the Real Stuff. 1986 S. Churcher N.Y. Confidential xii. 288 What you need is a Dr. Feelgood. Most of the physicians who provide rejuvenating blasts of dope to rich New Yorkers use amphetamines. 1992 M. Leyner Et Tu, Babe (1993) v. 100 Wachtel was one of the White House ‘Dr. Feelgoods’ who pumped JFK full of speed every day. |
▪ II. doctor, v. colloq.
(ˈdɒktə(r))
[f. prec. n.]
1. trans. To confer the degree or title of Doctor upon; to make a Doctor.
| 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 117 Which Church hath now fully..delivered her mind in the late Councell of Trent; whereto all that are solemnly doctored in Italy must subscribe. a 1744 Pope Let. to Swift Wks. 1751 IX. 341 (Jod.), I will be doctored with you, or not at all. 1873 Lowell Lett. (1894) II. 108, I have been over to Oxford to be doctored, and had a very pleasant time of it. 1891 Sat. Rev. 20 June 730/1 Cambridge on Tuesday ‘doctored’ among others her new High Steward. |
2. a. To treat, as a doctor or physician; to administer medicine or medical treatment to.
| 1737 Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 47 Rather than suffer a good serviceable Creature to be doctor'd out of his Life by the common Farrier. 1832 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 38 Brodie..prescribed for me and sent me off to doctor myself. 1842 C. Whitehead R. Savage (1845) I. xi. 156 We'll doctor him up while you're gone. |
b. transf. To repair, patch up, set to rights.
| 1829 Alford in Life (1873) 50 Wasted most of the morning in doctoring a clock. 1833 R. H. Froude Rem. (1838) I. 317 Can these [verses] be doctored into any thing available? |
c. To castrate (an animal).
| 1902 F. Simpson Cats ii. 30 It is necessary..to have your male cat doctored when he arrives at years of discretion. 1958 Amer. Speech XXXIII. 165 Doctor, to castrate [in Australian stockmen's language]. 1960 T. Clarke in J. Pudney Pick of Today's Short Stories XI. 80 If that cat's a Tom,..I'd better get it doctored. 1970 C. Kersh Aggravations of Minnie Ashe v. 63 He had been paid ‘good English money’ to doctor our cat. |
3. fig. To treat so as to alter the appearance, flavour, or character of; to disguise, falsify, tamper with, adulterate, sophisticate, ‘cook’.
| 1774 Foote Cozeners iii. Wks. 1799 II. 188, I wish we had time though to doctor his face. 1820 Edin. Rev. XXXIII. 138 Directions for..doctoring all sorts of wines. 1847 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun xxi. (1853) 66 Modes of doctoring dice. 1866 Pall Mall G. 3 Jan., A serious doubt arises..as to the trustworthiness of..the narratives thus doctored. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 5 Dec. 6/1 By a few touches of a file on the milled edge, a coin can be so ‘doctored’ as to fall almost invariably heads or tails at will. |
4. intr. a. To practise as a physician.
(Usually in vbl. n. or pres. pple.)
| 1865 Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys ii, Preaching ran in the King family; as politics or doctoring, sailoring or soldiering run in some others. 1885 Harper's Mag. Jan. 205/1, I know more about doctoring. |
b. To take medicine, undergo medical treatment.
| In recent Dicts. |
Hence ˈdoctored ppl. a., ˈdoctoring vbl. n.; also ˈdoctorer, one who doctors.
| 1533 Sir T. More Apol. xlv. Wks. 915/2 If this pacifyer's doctoring [i.e. citing of doctors] wer a good profe. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. xv. (ed. 3) 135 A mode of preparing old clover and trefoil seeds by a process called ‘doctoring’. 1851 Thackeray Eng. Hum. iii. (1858) 143 Most men's letters..are doctored compositions. 1882 T. W. Knox in Harper's Mag. Dec. 38/1 The high-priced wines..need no doctoring. 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Head Station 15 Serving out doctored grog. 1887 Thring in Jrnl. Educ. June 297 Any master of language, as distinct from a doctorer of words. |