MEDIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does medic mean? 

• MEDIC (noun)
  The noun MEDIC has 2 senses:

1. any of several Old World herbs of the genus Medicago having small flowers and trifoliate compound leaves

2. a medical practitioner in the armed forces

  Familiarity information: MEDIC used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MEDIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of several Old World herbs of the genus Medicago having small flowers and trifoliate compound leaves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

medic; medick; trefoil

Hypernyms ("medic" is a kind of...):

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "medic"):

Medicago arborea; moon trefoil (evergreen shrub of southern European highlands having downy foliage and a succession of yellow flowers throughout the summer followed by curious snail-shaped pods)

Medicago falcata; sickle alfalfa; sickle lucerne; sickle medick (European medic naturalized in North America having yellow flowers and sickle-shaped pods)

Calvary clover; Medicago echinus; Medicago intertexta (an annual of the Mediterranean area having spiny seed pods and leaves with dark spots)

black medick; hop clover; Medicago lupulina; nonesuch clover; yellow trefoil (prostrate European herb with small yellow flowers and curved black pods; naturalized in North America)

alfalfa; lucerne; Medicago sativa (important European leguminous forage plant with trifoliate leaves and blue-violet flowers grown widely as a pasture and hay crop)

Holonyms ("medic" is a member of...):

genus Medicago; Medicago (a genus of herbs that resemble clover)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A medical practitioner in the armed forces

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

medic; medical officer

Hypernyms ("medic" is a kind of...):

medical man; medical practitioner (someone who practices medicine)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "medic"):

flight surgeon (a medical officer specializing in aviation medicine)

Surgeon General (the senior medical officer in an Army or Navy)

Holonyms ("medic" is a member of...):

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

 Context examples 

While immune cells called neutrophils are known to act as infantry in the body’s war on germs, a National Institutes of Health-funded study suggests they can act as medics as well.

(Immune cells may heal bleeding brain after strokes, National Institutes of Health)

Brazilian researchers have developed a low-cost method of classifying the most common malignant brain tumour in children, which they say can help medics diagnose and treat the condition.

(New method to classify brain tumour in children, SciDev.Net)