sawbones

9.9

A doctor who operates on people to treat injuries

noun
/ˈsɔːboʊnz/

Archaic

: cirujano

TurboSquid and SawBones are commercial companies that produce 3D anatomic models to overcome the scarcity of legitimate data sets.

Examples

There were other slight touches that I appreciated, including Kirk calling McCoy "Sawbones" and a lot of the politics and economics of the mob.

Blog text (27)
"Out on the town with the Sawbones

Fiction book (1995)
AHOY, SAWBONES.

Miracle Dogs Too (2006)
The old man liked to call his doctor a sawbones when discussing his medical procedures.
During the operation, the sawbones carefully examined the patient's condition before proceeding.
She was grateful to the sawbones who saved her life during the emergency surgery.

Synonyms

surgeon

vssawbones

783 3.2

A doctor who performs operations to treat injuries or illnesses

is an informal or old-fashioned name for the same medical specialist

chirurgeon

vssawbones

Archaic

1 9.9

An old word for a doctor who cuts the body to treat injuries

is a more informal and conversational variant compared to the archaic name

operating surgeon

vssawbones

Specialized

1 4.2

A doctor who performs operations on patients in a hospital

is a general informal or old-fashioned term for the same specialist

Antonyms

patient

∞ 1.9

A person who is getting medical care from a doctor or hospital

Surface Forms

sawbones singular

sawbones plural

Morphology

sawbones = saw + bones (semi-transparent) = saw + bones

The compound literally combines 'saw' and 'bones', which suggests someone who saw bones, but the slang/metaphorical sense 'surgeon' is an idiomatic extension rather than a direct literal description.

Etymology

Sawbones is an old, informal name for a surgeon. It comes from the simple idea saw + bones because doctors, especially on battlefields, often had to saw through bone to remove a damaged arm or leg, so people called them 'sawbones'.