Shabby doctor with article - a number (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
moth eaten
'shabby' is the definition.
(I know that shabby can be written as moth-eaten)
'doctor with article a number' is the wordplay.
'doctor with' becomes 'mo' (medical officer. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'number' becomes 'ten' (ten is a kind of number).
'mo'+'the'+'a'+'ten'='MOTH-EATEN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for moth eaten that I've seen before include "Showing decrepitude" , "decayed" , "Scruffy" , "Like antiquated material" , "Ratty" .)