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general practitioner
noun
: a physician or veterinarian whose practice is not limited to a specialty
broadly
: generalist
Examples of general practitioner in a Sentence
Our family doctor is a general practitioner.
Recent Examples on the Web
Her parents, Sybil (Silverman) Hazleton and Jessel Hazleton, a general practitioner, raised Lesley and her brother, Ian, her only survivor, in an Orthodox, but not strict, Jewish household.
—Penelope Green, New York Times, 7 May 2024
Patients with heart failure are misdiagnosed at a rate of 16% in hospitals and nearly 70% when general practitioners refer patients to specialists, according to a study in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.
—Steve Levine, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
Experiences like Taylor’s aren’t unusual, said Louise Newson, a British general practitioner and menopause expert.
—Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2024
According to a 2022 survey of PMDD patients, over a third said their general practitioners had no knowledge of premenstrual disorders, and about 40% said their mental-health-care providers had no knowledge of premenstrual disorders.
—Shalene Gupta, TIME, 4 Apr. 2024
Her general practitioner and a doctor friend, who'd ordered her blood tests, agreed: Eggers needed to get a mammogram.
—Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2024
Dermatologists were less likely to prescribe medication to treat nail fungus than general practitioners.
—Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 16 Nov. 2023
This network offers every type of healthcare service including general practitioners, specialists, pharmacies, hospitals, labs, X-ray facilities, speech therapists, home oxygen, and more.
—Elizabeth Davis, Verywell Health, 27 Feb. 2024
Under Britain’s system, any patients wanting a cancer diagnosis need to begin with a visit their local family doctor, or general practitioner — because the only way to access tests or specialist care is via a referral from a GP.
—Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'general practitioner.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1810, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of general practitioner was
in 1810
Dictionary Entries Near general practitioner
Cite this Entry
“General practitioner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/general%20practitioner. Accessed 14 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
general practitioner
noun
: a physician or veterinarian whose practice is not limited to a specialty
Medical Definition
general practitioner
noun
: a physician or veterinarian whose practice is not limited to a specialty
Dr. Thomas, Sr., could carry virtually the full armamentarium of the medicine of his day in a single black bag, and very nearly all of medical knowledge in his head. Today the general practitioner is a vanishing breed, and specialists cannot use their time effectively traveling from patient to patient.—John Steele Gordon, American Heritage
The primary-care doctor is gaining new respect in Washington. Battles may be breaking out left and right over the various health-care bills emerging from Congress, but reformers on both sides agree that general practitioners should be given a central role in uniting the fragmented U.S. medical system.—Catherine Arnst, Business Week
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