as in doctor
a person specially trained in healing human medical disorders
a real old-timer who remembers when you could expect a sawbones to make a house call
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Recent Examples of sawbones
Under the Knife 2 continues the story of Dr. Derek Stiles, the brilliant young sawbones from the original game.
—
Earnest Cavalli, WIRED, 1 July 2008
Earnest Cavalli, WIRED, 1 July 2008
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sawbones
Noun
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Scrubs stars Braff and Faison as best friends who work as doctors at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Mar. 2026
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Court records show that Acacio, along with two other doctors, failed to pay more than $243,000 in rent on the Laguna Niguel office for roughly a year.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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All 12 of its freestanding ERs, including the one in Plantation, and its over 100 HCA Florida physician offices also accept the insurance, including Medicare Advantage, HMO and ACA plans associated with Florida Blue.—
Michelle Marchante,
Miami Herald,
4 Mar. 2026
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Cardiologist and researcher Eric Topol pointed to five studies in which AI systems working independently outperformed physicians who had access to AI as a tool.—
William Warr,
Time,
4 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sawbones.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sawbones. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.
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