attending

adjective at·tend·ing \ ə-ˈten-diŋ \

Updated on: 13 Apr 2018

Definition of attending

: serving as a physician or surgeon on the staff of a hospital or similar health-care facility and having primary responsibility over the treatment of a patient and often supervising treatment given by interns, residents, and fellows

an attending physician

attending staff

See attending defined for English-language learners

Examples of attending in a Sentence

a surprise arrest of the operator of an illegal gambling joint and all attending employees
dislikes flying and all of its attending inconveniences

First Known Use of attending

1904

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

attending Synonyms

Phrases

at hand, in attendance, on hand;

attending

noun

Definition of attending

: an attending physician or surgeon

In the hospital, he had been cared for by a full team of cardiologists, ranging from fellows in specialty training to attendings who had practiced for decades.
—Atul Gawande

Recent Examples of attending from the Web

Robotic systems might have two control consoles, but attendings rarely grant residents simultaneous control.

— matt simon, WIRED, "Med Students Are Getting Terrible Training in Robotic Surgery," 15 Mar. 2018
The family was later told only that an unexpected event had occurred, not that the attending had been out of the room.

— sandra g. boodman, chicagotribune.com, "Is your surgeon double-booked?," 10 July 2017
Pro-government accounts, meanwhile, showed supporters dressed in red attending rallies that featured an inflatable balloon of the deceased former President Hugo Chavez.

— nathan crooks, Bloomberg.com, "Protesters Confront National Guard in Strife-Ridden Caracas," 1 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'attending.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of attending

1906

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

ATTENDING Defined for English Language Learners

attending

adjective

Definition of attending for English Language Learners

: serving as a doctor on the staff of a hospital who regularly visits and treats patients and is in charge of other staff members

Medical Dictionary

attending

adjective at·tend·ing \ ə-ˈtend-iŋ \

medical Definition of attending

The attending staff is also expected to teach and mentor the residents during their training.
—Geogy Thomas, The Los Angeles Times, 23 May 1999

If such a patient lacks a reasonably available surrogate, an attending physician may issue a do-not-resuscitate order with judicial approval or with the written concurrence of another physician …
—Lawrence O. Gostin, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 6 Apr. 1994

attending

noun

medical Definition of attending

: an attending physician or surgeon

Being the attending on a teaching service nowadays requires visiting once or twice daily, being present for procedures, and documenting everything.
—Abraham Verghese, The New England Journal of Medicine, 25 Dec. 2008

In the hospital, he had been cared for by a full team of cardiologists, ranging from fellows in specialty training to attendings who had practiced for decades.
—Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, 28 Jan. 2002