Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. in the context of food or drink [SE doctor, to mix, to adulterate].

2. the last throw in a game, e.g. dice or ninepins [? the doctor at one’s end/death].

1823

‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.

3. (UK gambling) a purpose-built dice-box designed to facilitate cheating in the game of Hazard.

1832

Satirist (London) 22 Jan. 31/1: [T]he numerous implements for swindling used at [hazard] [...] Cog, or Secure, / Doctor, or Close Box, Smooth Box, Dispatches, [...] The Scratch.

4. (N.Z.) a slave.

1845

Bolton Chron. 7 June 4/2: [of NZ] A chief was called a ‘nob,’ a slave, a ‘doctor,’ a woman, a ‘heifer,’ a girl, a ‘titter,’ a child, a ‘squeaker’.

5. (Aus.) the cook on a sheep station [ext. of naut. use doctor, a shipboard cook or 19C N.Z. whalers’ doctor, a Maori slave used as a cook].

[1848		Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 117: doctor. The cook on board a ship; so called by seamen].
1889-90		D. Sladen in Barrère & Leland Sl., Jargon and Cant I 315/1: Doctor, the (up-country Australian), the men’s cook on a station.
1896		Australian 13 June 1133/1: The doctor’s in the kitchen, and the boss is in the shed.
1900		T.J. Hains Mr Trunnell Mate of the Ship ‘Pirate’ Ch. i: He led me below, where we were joined by the ‘doctor,’ a good-looking negro, who [...] came aft and assumed an importance in keeping with a cook of an American clipper ship.
1900–10		Stephens & O’Brien Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.] 62: DOCTOR: bush slang a nickname for the station cook.
1933		(ref. to 1890–1910) L.G.D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs (1951) 374: Doctor – Slang for cook.
1945		Baker Aus. Lang. 79: Outback cooks have been known by many names [...] doctor, blacksmith, poisoner and crippen.
1957		J. Greenway ‘Australian Cattle Lingo’ in AS XXXIII:3 165: doctor, 1. n. A cook.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 63: doctor [...] 2. A sheepstation cook; originally a ship’s cook in Britain 1821, here 1839. ANZ.

6. (bingo, also doctor’s shop) the number nine [milit. jargon doctor, pill number nine, the most frequently prescribed medicine in the Field Medical Chest + ref. to the nine months of pregnancy, after which one ‘calls for the doctor’].

1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 79: Doctor, The: [...] Also No. 9 in the game of ‘House’. [Ibid.] 122: 9 was ‘Doctor’s Shop’.
1960		A. Burgess Doctor Is Sick (1972) 197: The flop-tied man dismissed two little ducks, legs eleven, doctor’s chum, Dowing Street, Kelly’s eye, and various others.

7. (US gay) a man with a large penis [? he gives you an ‘injection’].

1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 211: well-endowed man [...] doctor (dated, ’40s).

8. (N.Z. prison) a paedophile.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 57/1: doctor n. 1 a paedophile, child molester.

9. (N.Z. prison) an inmate in possession of a regular supply of drugs for sale.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 57/1: doctor n. 2 an inmate in possession of a steady supply of drugs for sale to other inmates. Usually this inmate gains a reputation for being a drug-dealer and builds up a regular clientele.

10. (N.Z. prison) an inmate who is skilled at finding veing into which narcotics may be injected; inmates may form regular teams to do this .

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 57/1: doctor n. 3 (amongst intravenous drug users) a person adept at locating a suitable vein in a fellow drug user’s arm (or elsewhere).

11. (N.Z. prison) a prison drug manufacturer.

2001

D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 57/1: doctor n. 4 = chemist.