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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Yerman said doctors used six staples to close a gash suffered during the attack.—
Adi Guajardo,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
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After three days of physical therapy and doctors’ advice, Vonn tried skiing on Tuesday.—
Andrew Dampf,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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For nearly a millennia and half, even in the centuries when physicians were beginning to supplant priests in treating the ill, epileptic convulsions (unexpected, frightening, enigmatic) remained the territory of the priest.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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Todd Randall Wilcox, a correctional health-care physician and the former president of the American College of Correctional Physicians, reviewed the medical records associated with Roque Campos’s hospital visits, as part of expert testimony for the class-action suit.—
Oren Peleg,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sawbones.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sawbones. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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