Meaning & use
veterinary
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to the medical care and treatment of animals, especially pets and farm animals.
Grammar: Always used before a noun: veterinary clinic, not the clinic is veterinary.
Patterns
- veterinary care
- veterinary medicine
She studied veterinary medicine for six years.
The farm called a veterinary surgeon when the cow became ill.
Veterinary bills can be very high for older dogs.
Common combinations
- veterinary clinic
- We took the injured cat to the nearest veterinary clinic.
- veterinary student
- As a veterinary student, he practiced on farm animals.
- veterinary care
- Regular veterinary care keeps pets healthy.
- veterinary surgeon
- A veterinary surgeon removed the splinter from the horse's hoof.
Synonyms and how they differ
- animal-health
- Animal-health is a general modifier used by organizations, while veterinary is the professional medical term.
- vet
- Vet is the informal noun for the person, not an adjective like veterinary.
- zoological
- Zoological relates to the study of animals in general, not their medical treatment.
Word family
- veterinarian noun
- an animal doctor, American usage
- vet noun
- short informal word for a veterinarian
- veterinary medicine noun
- the field of animal medicine
Commonly confused: veterinary or veteran?
veterinary vs veteran
Veteran refers to someone with long experience, often of military service, and is unrelated to animal medicine.
Practice
After the dog swallowed a sock, the owner rushed to the ______ clinic.
Choose one answer.
Veterinary means relating to animal medicine; veteran sounds similar but means experienced or former soldier.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “veterinary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.