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Doctor vs Dumb - What's the difference?

doctor | dumb |

As a noun doctor

is .

As an adjective dumb is

(label) unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

As a verb dumb is

to silence.

doctor

English

Alternative forms

* doctour (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A physician; a member of the medical]] profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick. The final examination and qualification may award a doctor degree in which case the post-nominal letters are , DMD, DDS, DPT, DC, in the US or MBBS in the UK.
    • If you still feel unwell tomorrow, see your doctor .
  • * Shakespeare
    • By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death / Will seize the doctor too.
  • A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a or one of many other terminal degrees conferred by a college or university.
  • A veterinarian; a medical practitioner who treats animals.
  • (A nickname for) a person who has special knowledge or talents to manipulate or arrange transactions.
  • (obsolete) A teacher; one skilled in a profession or a branch of knowledge; a learned man.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • one of the doctors of Italy, Nicholas Macciavel
  • (dated) Any mechanical contrivance intended to remedy a difficulty or serve some purpose in an exigency.
    • the doctor of a calico-printing machine, which is a knife to remove superfluous colouring matter
    the doctor , or auxiliary engine, also called "donkey engine"
  • * 2010 , Ramesh Bangia, Dictionary of Information Technology (page 172)
    • The use of a disk doctor may be the only way of recovering valuable data following a disk crash.
  • A fish, the friar skate.

    • Usage notes

    * Doctor is capitalized when used as a title: *: Doctor Smith

    Synonyms

    * (physician) doc (informal), family doctor, general practitioner, GP (UK), medic, physician, sawbones (slang), surgeon (who undertakes surgery ) * (veterinarian) vet, veterinarian, veterinary, veterinary surgeon

    Derived terms

    See also'' Types of academic doctor ''below * an apple a day keeps the doctor away * Angelic Doctor * barefoot doctor * the Cape Doctor * cleaning-doctor * color-doctor, colour-doctor * bedoctor * clown doctor * company doctor * couch doctor * dedoctor * doc * doctoral * doctor-assisted suicide * doctor blade * doctor-box * doctordom * doctoress, doctress * doctor-fish * doctor-gum * doctorhead, doctorhood * doctorish * doctorishness * doctorism * doctorise, doctorize * doctorless * doctorly * Doctor Martens * Doctor of Divinity * Doctor of Law * Doctor of Letters * Doctor of Philosophy * Doctor of Science * Doctor of the Chair * Doctor of Veterinary Medicine * Doctors' Commons * doctor's curse * doctor's gum * doctor-shears * doctorship * doctor's orders * the Doctors of the Church * doctorspeak * doctor's stuff, doctor-stuff * Dr, * family doctor * flying doctor * the Fremantle Doctor * herb doctor * horse-doctor * just what the doctor ordered, what the doctor ordered * lint-doctor * mad-doctor * paradoctor * quack doctor * rain-doctor * saw doctor * school doctor * snake doctor * spin doctor * under-doctor * underdoctored * under the doctor * undoctor * undoctored * water-doctor * witch doctor * woman doctor * you are the doctor, you're the doctor

    Related terms

    (types of academic doctor) * Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine () * Doctor of Arts () * Doctor of Architecture () * Doctor of Applied Science () * Doctor of Business Administration () * Doctor of Chemistry () * Doctor of Chiropractic () * Doctor of Civil Law () * Doctor of Criminal Justice () * Doctor of Comparative/Civil Law () * Doctor of Computer Science () * Doctor of Criminology () * Doctor of Dental Medicine () * Doctor of Dental Surgery () * Doctor of Design () * Doctor of Education () * Doctor of Environmental Design () * Doctor of Engineering () * Doctor of Environment () * Doctor of Engineering Science () * Doctor of Forestry () * Doctor of Fine Arts () * Doctor of Geological Science () * Doctor of Hebrew Literature/Letters () * Doctor of Health and Safety () * Doctor of Hebrew Studies () * Doctor of Industrial Technology () * Doctor of Information Technology () * Doctor of Juridical Science () * Doctor of Library Science () * Doctor of Music () * Doctor of Musical Arts () * Doctor of Musical Education () * Doctor of Ministry () * Doctor of Modern Languages () * Doctor of Music Ministry () * Doctor of Medical Science () * Doctor of Nursing Science () * Doctor of Public Administration () * Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine () * Doctor of Pharmacy () * Doctor of Philosophy () * Doctor of Physical Education () * Doctor of Physical Therapy () * Doctor of Podiatric Medicine () * Doctor of Psychology () * Doctor of Public Health () * Doctor of Professional Studies () * Doctor of Religious Education () * Doctor of Recreation () * Doctor of Science () * Doctor of Science in Dentistry () * Doctor of Science and Hygiene () * Doctor of Science in Veterinary Medicine () * Doctor of Sacred Music () * Doctor of Social Science () * Doctor of Social Work () * Doctor of Canon Law () * Doctor of the Science of Law () * Doctor of Rehabilitation () * Doctor of Sacred Theology () * Doctor of Science () * Doctor of Technology () * Doctor of Theology () * Doctor of the University () * Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or Veterinary Medical Doctor () * Divinitatis Doctor, Doctor of Divinity () * Juris Doctor, Doctor of Law () * Optometry Doctor, Doctor of Optometry () * Legum Doctor, Doctor of Laws () * Literarum Doctor, Doctor of Letters () * Medicine Doctor, Doctor of Medicine () * Music Doctor, Doctor of Music ()

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To act as a medical doctor to.
    • Her children doctored her back to health.
  • To make (someone) into an (academic) doctor; to confer a doctorate upon.
  • To physically alter (medically or surgically) a living being in order to change growth or behavior.
    • They doctored their apple trees by vigorous pruning, and now the dwarfed trees are easier to pick.
    We may legally doctor a pet to reduce its libido.
  • To genetically alter an extant species.
    • ''Mendel's discoveries showed how the evolution of a species may be doctored .
  • To alter or make obscure, as with the intention to deceive, especially a document.
    • To doctor the signature of an instrument with intent to defraud is an example of forgery.

    See also

    * doctorand * * surgeon

    Statistics

    * ----

    dumb

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) dumb, from (etyl) . In ordinary spoken English, a phrase like "He is dumb" is interpreted as "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech". The latter example, however, is the original sense of the word. The senses of stupid'', ''unintellectual'', and ''pointless developed under the influence of the (etyl) word dumm.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (label) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
  • * Hooker
    • to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures
  • (label) Silent; unaccompanied by words.
    • dumb show
  • * Shakespeare
    • This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
  • *
  • * J. C. Shairp
    • to pierce into the dumb past
  • extremely stupid.
    • You are so dumb ! You don't even know how to make toast!
  • (label) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
    • This is dumb ! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
    Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
  • Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.
  • * De Foe
    • Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
    Synonyms
    * (unable to speak) dumbstruck, mute, speechless, wordless * (stupid) feeble-minded, idiotic, moronic, stupid * banal, brainless, dopey, silly, stupid, ridiculous, vulgar
    Derived terms
    * dumb as a box of rocks * dumben * dumbhood * dummy * dumbness

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) dumbien, from (etyl) dumbian (more commonly in compound .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To silence.
  • * 1911 , Lindsay Swift, William Lloyd Garrison , p. 272,
    • The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.
  • To make stupid.
  • * 2003 , Angela Calabrese Barton, Teaching Science for Social Justice , p. 124,
    • I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
  • To represent as stupid.
  • * 2004 , Stephen Oppenheimer, The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa , p. 107,
    • Bad-mouthing Neanderthals . . . is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. . . . I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.
  • To reduce the intellectual demands of.
  • * 2002 , Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing , p. 126,
    • The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.
    Derived terms
    * dumbness * dumb blonde * dumb down * dumbocracy * dumb-show * dumb terminal * dummy * play dumb