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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
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
However, the cost is much more affordable than in the United States — a dental cleaning starts from $33 and a visit with a general practitioner will cost you less than $65, ICI states.
—Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 12 Jan. 2024
Talbert continued to seek out answers and treatment options, visiting multiple general practitioners and specialists.
—Essence, 9 Jan. 2024
Their parents worked in medicine: Ronald, their father, was a general practitioner and Mary, their mom, worked as a nurse at a nutritional research center at Tufts University, according to ELLE.
—Lynsey Eidell, Peoplemag, 10 Dec. 2023
No prescription medications for nail fungus were prescribed in 82% of the dermatology visits and 78.9% of general practitioner visits.2
If the condition is so common, why don’t more people get treatment?
—Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 16 Nov. 2023
This service has a trustworthy team of a general practitioner (primary care physician), urologist, and nurse practitioner who medically review all patients.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 15 Sep. 2023
Primary care doctors, also known as general practitioners or family doctors, are supposed to be the first to see patients, catching potential problems early.
—Carson Terbush, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2023
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 28 Mar. 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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