Meaning & use
pathologist
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Meanings
nouncountablemedical
A doctor or scientist who studies the causes and effects of disease by examining body tissue, fluids and organs.
Grammar: Countable: a pathologist, two pathologists.
Patterns
- a pathologist at somewhere
- send a sample to a pathologist
The pathologist examined the biopsy under a microscope and confirmed the diagnosis.
A pathologist at the hospital reviews hundreds of tissue samples every week.
The surgeon sent the sample to a pathologist for testing.
nouncountablemedicalspecialist
A doctor who examines a dead body to find out how and why the person died; also called a forensic pathologist.
Grammar: Often used with forensic in crime and news writing.
Patterns
- a forensic pathologist
The pathologist concluded that the man had died of natural causes.
In the TV drama, the pathologist explained the time of death.
Police waited for the pathologist's report before making an arrest.
nouncountablebiology
A scientist who studies plant or crop diseases, usually called a plant pathologist.
Grammar: Usually with a modifier such as plant.
Patterns
- a plant pathologist
A plant pathologist tested the leaves to find out why the crop was dying.
The farm hired a plant pathologist to stop the fungus from spreading.
Word forms
| plural | pathologists |
|---|
Common combinations
- forensic pathologist
- A forensic pathologist helped determine the cause of death.
- consultant pathologist
- The consultant pathologist signed the report.
- a pathologist's report
- The pathologist's report arrived two days later.
- plant pathologist
- The plant pathologist identified the disease.
- a pathologist examines
- A pathologist examines samples to detect cancer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- medical examiner
- Medical examiner is an American official title for a doctor who investigates deaths, whereas pathologist is the broader specialty.
- coroner
- A coroner investigates unexplained deaths and may not be a doctor, while a pathologist is a medical specialist who examines tissue and bodies.
- diagnostician
- A diagnostician identifies disease generally, but a pathologist does it specifically through lab examination.
Word family
- pathology noun
- the study of disease and its causes
- pathological adjective
- relating to disease, or extreme and compulsive
- pathologically adverb
- in a way that is extreme or caused by disease
- pathogen noun
- a germ that causes disease
Commonly confused: pathologist or psychologist? pathologist or physiologist?
pathologist vs psychologist
A psychologist studies the mind and behavior. A pathologist studies disease in the body's tissues and cells.
pathologist vs physiologist
A physiologist studies how healthy bodies work, but a pathologist studies what goes wrong in disease.
Practice
The surgeon sent the tissue sample to a ___ to find out whether the lump was cancerous.
Choose one answer.
A pathologist examines tissue to diagnose disease. A psychologist studies behavior, a physiotherapist treats movement, and a pharmacist supplies medicines.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pathologist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.