medical examiner

noun

: a usually appointed public officer whose duties are similar to those of a coroner but who is typically required to have specific medical training (as in pathology) and is qualified to conduct medical examinations and autopsies

Examples of medical examiner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The chief medical examiner’s office recorded 586 fatal overdoses in San Francisco in the first 11 months of 2024. —Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2025

The Onondaga County medical examiner’s office is conducting an autopsy and will determine the cause and manner of his death. —Ed Shanahan, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024

While the medical examiner’s investigation was ongoing, detectives worked to investigate a potential financial motive for hiding the body. —Christian Martinez, The Mercury News, 13 Dec. 2024

Why hadn’t the medical examiner’s office released her purse and other personal items yet? —Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

medical examiner

noun

1

: a usually appointed public officer with duties similar to those of a coroner but who is required to have specific medical training (as in pathology) and is qualified to conduct medical examinations and autopsies

2

: a physician employed to make medical examinations (as of applicants for military service or of claimants of workers' compensation)

3

: a physician appointed to examine and license candidates for the practice of medicine in a political jurisdiction (as a state)

Legal Definition

medical examiner

noun

med·​i·​cal examiner

: a public officer who determines the necessity of and conducts autopsies