Category Archives: American Dictionary

The New Oxford American Dictionary (Hardcover)

The New Oxford American Dictionary

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Recently there has been publicity about young lexicographers and their work with major American dictionaries. Erin McKean, 34, is the editor of the second edition of The New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD) and continues the tradition of publishing a well-researched and current source of U.S. English. The first edition, with different editors, was published in 2001. What has changed in four years?Words, of course, have been added and deleted. There are more than 2,000 new entries. Google and weblog are now in, information superhighway is out. The type appears larger, and a line or two has been added to the brief country histories to bring them up to date. Another addition is the useful feature “The Right Word,” which discusses synonyms. An example is the entry for attack, which, in addition to a half-column definition, has another half-column discussing the differences in meanings for the synonyms assault, besiege, charge, molest, and s (more…)

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (Hardcover)

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

This newly updated edition of America’s favorite dictionary features revised biographical and geographical entries as well as up-to-date charts and tables for topics such as world currencies and chemical elements. Among the 500 entries new to this update are Amber Alert, blogosphere, gravitino, halo effect, hawala, lycopene, malware, micropolis, proteome, Qi Gong, SARS, shout-out, speed dating, sudoku, Texas hold’em, text message, and wiki.The renowned American Heritage® Usage Panel, a group of more than 200 distinguished writers, scholars, and scientists, offers advice on problems of grammar and style; engaging notes explain word histories and clarify differences among synonyms; thousands of quotations and example sentences show words in context; and elegant definitions are enhanced by 4,000 full-color photographs, drawings, and maps, making this one of the most readable dictionaries available anywhere.This dictionary can also be purchased with a fully loadable W (more…)