Pocket Oxford American Dictionary

Completely redesigned and rewritten, the second edition of Pocket Oxford American Dictionary combines its highly popular packaging with a dramatic revision of the copy, with completely reworded entries throughout.

With more than 140,000 words, phrases, and definitions, including a wealth of new words, sample sentences, and usage notes, this marvelous edition makes it easier than ever before to find the correct meaning of a word. The editors have completely rewritten the entries, stressing everyday English to make each definition as accessible as possible. Moreover, they have used the latest evidence from the Oxford English Corpus--a vast database of some two billion words, offering an unparalleled portrait of our language--to uncover the most common and most important meanings of words and phrases in contemporary American English. The editors have organized the meanings in an entry according to these findings, so that the most likely definition of a word occurs first. In addition, the Dictionary features thousands of real examples that highlight how words are used by recognized writers, and it includes hundreds of usage, grammar, and spelling tips based on evidence of real mistakes. Finally, the Dictionary boasts a new page layout, with a more open and accessible design, with an emphasis on readability.

The completely revised and redesigned Second Edition draws on the vast wealth of the Oxford English Corpus to provide readers with the clearest vision of American English as it exists today. It is an essential resource for people on the go, who need a portable and reliable guide to our language.

Requiring a big pocket to hold it, the 2d edition of this essential reference contains short and snappy definitions for 140,000 words, and a handy reference section. The layout has been improved from the 1st edition and features a clear, bright font and accessible format, with the defined word in bold and the subsequent lines indented. Usage tips, focusing predominantly on confusing synonyms, are inserted throughout the work. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Based on a vast database of over two hundred million words, the Oxford Pocket American Dictionary of Current English offers superb coverage of American English. Oxford's U.S. Dictionaries Program has taken a state-of-the-art approach to the design of reference works, focusing on the words users most commonly encounter, and omitting those rarely used. 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 result is the most reliable word resource available, one that is more practical and less expensive, perfect for students or the general reader. Its features include:

DT Grammar, Style, and Usage Notes that give guidance on correct English

DT Hundreds of Word Histories that provide a fascinating background to our language

DT 225 illustrations, commissioned by Oxford's U.S. Dictionaries Program, that add important visual information to complement the definitions

DT Reference appendices with information on weights and measures, metric conversions, chemical elements, countries of the world, U.S. states and presidents, and much more

Affordable, durable, easy to read and completely up to date, this is the finest dictionary of its size available. date, this is the finest dictionary of its size available.

[On Cover]

DT 180,000 concise definitions and entries

DT 3,000 biographical and geographical entries

This all-new edition (replacing the Oxford American Dictionary of Current English) packs an extraordinary amount of information in a package that is practical, dependable, affordable, and easy to read. It includes more than 180,000 entries and definitions complete with pronunciations, parts of

speech, syllabification, inflected forms, and derivatives, together with Usage Notes that give helpful information on correct English.

Frank Abate is Editor in Chief of the U.S. Dictionaries Program for Oxford University Press. He has compiled or edited more than 30 dictionaries and a wide variety of other language and general reference works.