Did you
know?

doctor
verb

- to falsify or change in such a way as to make favorable to oneself — (doctored the evidence).

- to add ingredients so as to improve or conceal the taste, appearance, or quality of (doctor the soup with a dash of sherry).
 
- to alter or modify for a specific end — (doctored my standard speech for the small-town audience).
 
- Baseball. To deface or apply a substance to (the ball) — (was ejected because he doctored the ball with a piece of sandpaper).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

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WORD ORIGIN

The term "doctor" first appeared in English in the early 14th century. Originally, it was used to describe theologians who were recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as experts in religious doctrine. These individuals were essentially specialized teachers, and the word "doctor" itself reflects this; it comes from the Latin word for "teacher", which is derived from "docēre", meaning "to teach".

The verb form of "doctor" evolved from this original noun. However, starting in the late 18th century, the verb took on a negative meaning, signifying "to falsify", or "to disguise".

Note that there is also a very special meaning of “to doctor” with regard to animals: “to castrate a cat or dog”.

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SYNONYMS

adjust, adulterate, airbrush, alter, amend, bastardize, bend, bias, camouflage, change, cloak, colour, cook, cook the books, corrupt, counterfeit, cover up, cut corners, deceive, disguise, distort, DOCTOR, doctor up, dress up, embellish, embroider, exaggerate, fabricate, fake, falsify, fiddle (with), fix, fudge, gloss, interfere with, jigger, juggle, juice, manipulate, mask, massage, misapply (guide, inform, interpret, lead, paint, report, represent), modify, monkey around (with), pad, paint falsely, paper over, phony up, play (around) with, play with, rig, salt, smoke and mirrors, spike, spin, spoil, stage-manage, sugarcoat, tamper (with), taint, take liberties with, throw a curve, tilt, tinker (with), touch up, twist (the facts), varnish, warp, whitewash, window-dress, work over

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Have a look — these expense figures look like they have been DOCTORED.”

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