noun General Slang

Turkey

· noun · medical

A difficult, unrewarding patient.

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Definitions

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An undesirable patient — the admission you didn't want, the one nobody on the team will claim. Vaguer than 'crock' (which implies fake complaints) or 'gomer' (which implies elderly/confused) — a turkey is just unrewarding work.

“Nights handed us three turkeys at five am — no plan on any of them.”
by community
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Turkey In A Sentence

Nights handed us three turkeys at five am — no plan on any of them.

Origin & Usage

Part of the classic intern trio with 'crock' and 'gomer', catalogued in the 1983 Cambridge study of hospital slang. The American 'turkey' (= a loser, a dud) carried over from general slang into the ward.

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