sawbones

C2+ Topic:Health & Medicine

US /ˈsɔboʊnz/ UK /ˈsɔːbəʊnz/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a slang term for a surgeon or doctor

Fetch the sawbones; the captain's leg is broken.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a slang term for a surgeon... surgeon doctor physician medic

Word family

Related forms saw bones

Etymology

A 19th-century slang compound of saw + bones, alluding to the surgeon's use of a saw to amputate limbs.

sagu Old English bān Old English

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Health & Medicine Register & Style

# sawbones

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈsɔboʊnz
**IPA (UK):** ˈsɔːbəʊnz

## Meanings
1. a slang term for a surgeon or doctor

## Examples
- Fetch the sawbones; the captain's leg is broken.

## Synonyms
- surgeon
- doctor
- physician
- medic

## Related Forms
- saw
- bones

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sagu
- Root: bān

## Etymology
A 19th-century slang compound of saw + bones, alluding to the surgeon's use of a saw to amputate limbs.

## AI Etymology
Sawbones is a 19th-century slang compound of saw + bones, alluding to the surgeon's use of a saw to amputate limbs. The compound structure is semantically important: one element narrows the setting, direction, or quality, and the other supplies the object, action, or base idea. As a noun, it denotes "a slang term for a surgeon or doctor", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Old English sagu and Old English bān. Related words include saw, bones.

## Topics
- Health & Medicine
- Register & Style

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sawbones

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