This new dictionary packs an extraordinary amount of information into a handy book that is practical, dependable, affordable, and easy to read. Based on the groundbreaking flagship dictionary of Oxford's US Dictionaries program, the New Oxford American Dictionary, this concise edition includes more than 180,000 entries and definitions, complete with pronunciations, parts of speech, syllabification, inflected forms, and derivatives.

All Oxford American dictionaries use an easy-to-use respelling system to show how entries are pronounced. It uses simple, familiar markings to represent common American English sounds. The Concise Oxford American Dictionary is a convenient and complete dictionary for school, work, and home. The dictionary includes Usage Notes that give helpful information on correct English; hundreds of Word Histories that provide fascinating background on the lives of words; more than 300, carefully chosen illustrations; and a handy Ready Reference section with information about weights and measures, chemical elements, U.S. states and presidents, punctuation, frequently misspelled words, and much more.

Based on a vast database of some 200 million words, The Oxford American Dictionary of Current English offers superb coverage of American English. Its features include: * 180,000 concise definitions and entries

* Grammar, Style, and Usage Notes give guidance on correct English

* Hundreds of Word Histories provide fascinating background to our language

* 225 illustrations, commissioned by Oxford's US Dictionaries Program, add important visual information that complements the definitions

* 3,000 biographical and geographical entries

* Reference appendices include information on weights and measures, metric conversions, chemical elements, countries of the world, US states and presidents, and much more

All Oxford American dictionaries use an easy-to-use respelling system to show how entries are pronounced. It uses simple, familiar markings to represent common American English sounds. Affordable, durable, easy to read, and completely up to date, this is the finest dictionary of its size

available.

Based on a database of American English compiled in the U.S., The Oxford American Desk Dictionary is completely up to date and designed for today's quick-reference needs. This superb dictionary also features more than 200 detailed illustrations (commissioned for this 1998 edition), helpful

in-text Usage Notes, and hundreds of lively, informative Word Histories.

Features:

More than 100,000 entries and definitions

New words and senses, some not found in any other dictionaries

(biodiversity, debit card, home page, SUV)

Hundreds of in-text Usage Notes and Word Histories

Eye-catching, detailed illustrations, specially commissioned for this edition

Thousands of up-to-date biographical and geographical entries

Expanded 24-page Special Reference Section with Countries of the World, Signs and Symbols, Weights and Measures, U.S. States and Presidents

As a concise, thorough, up-to-date, yet handy resource, this dictionary is unsurpassed.

Frank Abate is Editor in Chief of the U. S. Dictionaries Program of Oxford University Press, located in Connecticut.