surgeon

/ˈsʌrdʒən/

/ˈsʌdʒən/

Other forms: surgeons

A surgeon is a kind of doctor who treats his patients by using his hands, often by performing surgery. If you're comfortable slicing into a person's body to remove an appendix, then you might make a decent surgeon.

The word surgeon comes from the Greek kheirourgos, which is a fancy way of saying "done by the hand." Whereas a doctor-at-large might treat his patients by chatting with them, asking questions, and prescribing medications, a surgeon's work is much more hands-on, you might say. A surgeon specializes in cutting open the body, usually to heal his patients.

Definitions of surgeon

1. noun

   a physician who specializes in surgery
   synonyms: operating surgeon, sawbones

   examples:

   William Beaumont

   United States surgeon remembered for his studies of digestion (1785-1853)

   Alexis Carrel

   French surgeon and biologist who developed a way to suture and graft blood vessels (1873-1944)

   William Cowper

   English surgeon who discovered Cowper's gland (1666-1709)

   Michael Ellis De Bakey

   United States heart surgeon who in 1966 implanted the first artificial heart in a human patient (born in 1908)

   William Crawford Gorgas

   United States Army surgeon who suppressed yellow fever in Havana and in the Panama Canal Zone (1854-1920)

   Joseph Lister

   English surgeon who was the first to use antiseptics (1827-1912)

   James Parkinson

   English surgeon (1755-1824)

   Walter Reed

   United States physician who proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes (1851-1902)

   types:

   amputator

   a surgeon who removes part or all of a limb

   cosmetic surgeon, plastic surgeon

   a surgeon who beautifies the body (especially the face)

   brain surgeon, neurosurgeon

   someone who does surgery on the nervous system (especially the brain)

   type of:

   Dr., MD, doc, doctor, medico, physician

   a licensed medical practitioner