I. quack 1 /kwæk/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: From the sound ]
to make the sound that ducks make
II. quack 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ quack 1 ]
[ Sense 2-3: Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: quacksalver 'quack' (16-19 centuries) , from early Dutch , probably from quacken 'to quack, talk' + salf 'cure' ]
1 . the sound a duck makes
2 . someone who pretends to be a doctor – used in order to show disapproval ⇨ quackery :
quacks selling weight-loss drugs
3 . British English informal a doctor:
You’d better go and see the quack with that burn.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ doctor someone who treats people who are ill, who has completed a long course of study at medical school:
If you have bad chest pains, you should see a doctor.
▪ GP British English a doctor who is trained in general medicine and who treats the people who live in a local area:
My GP told me that I must lose weight.
▪ physician /fəˈzɪʃ ə n, fɪˈzɪʃ ə n/ formal especially American English a doctor:
the American physician, Dr James Tyler Kent
▪ quack informal someone who pretends to be a doctor:
My father felt that people practicing alternative medicine were just a bunch of quacks.
▪ the medical profession doctors and nurses considered as a group:
This view is widely accepted among the medical profession.
▪ surgeon /ˈsɜːdʒ ə n $ ˈsɜːr-/ a doctor who does operations in a hospital:
One of the world’s top heart surgeons performed the operation.
▪ specialist a doctor with special knowledge about a particular illness, part of the body, or type of treatment:
The new drug is being tested by cancer specialists.
|
an eye specialist
▪ consultant British English a very senior doctor in a hospital, with a lot of knowledge about a particular area of medicine:
The consultant said that he did not think it was cancer.
▪ paramedic someone who has been trained to treat sick or injured people, especially at the scene of an accident:
Paramedics treated him for shock.
▪ vet ( also veterinarian especially American English ) a doctor who treats animals:
We took the cat to the vet.
▪ paediatrician British English , pediatrician American English a doctor who treats children who are sick
▪ gynaecologist British English , gynecologist American English a doctor who treats medical conditions and illnesses that affect women’s bodies
▪ obstetrician a doctor who deals with the birth of children
▪ radiographer someone whose job is to take ↑ X-ray s or to treat people using an X-ray machine
III. quack 3 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]
relating to the activities or medicines of someone who pretends to be a doctor ⇨ quackery :
a quack remedy