I. vet 1 S3 /vet/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: veterinarian and veteran ]
1 . ( also veterinary surgeon British English formal ) someone who is trained to give medical care and treatment to sick animals SYN veterinarian American English
2 . American English informal a ↑ veteran (1):
a Vietnam vet
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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.
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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
II. vet 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle vetted , present participle vetting ) [transitive]
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ vet 1 (1) ]
1 . British English to check someone’s past activities, relationships etc in order to make sure that person is suitable for a particular job, especially an important one:
All candidates are carefully vetted by Central Office.
2 . to check a report, speech etc carefully to make sure it is acceptable:
The author vets every script for the new TV series.