Synopses & Reviews
Oxford has long been renowned as the leading dictionary-maker of the English-speaking world, publisher of the redoubtable 20-volume
Oxford English Dictionary and the highly acclaimed two-volume
New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. But while these monumental works are ideal for people who want the best resources on English available, they are too much dictionary for people whose reference needs are simpler or who want a dictionary they can carry with them. Now Oxford introduces
The Oxford Desk Dictionary, a perfect volume for the casual user. Light and portable, it fits easily in an attaché or backpack.
Founded on the authority of the renowned Oxford Dictionary Department's vast database, and newly edited specifically for the U.S. by noted American lexicographer Laurence Urdang, this convenient volume packs a remarkable amount of information in a small package. Its features include:
* More than 60,000 entries--the broadest coverage available in this size dictionary
* The latest new words and senses, including many found in no other dictionary of any size, plus thousands of colloquial and slang expressions
* Coverage of technical terms from computer science, medicine, technology, and business
* Up-to-date geographical and biographical entries
* A single alphabetical arrangement for all the entries, including prefixes, suffixes, and abbreviations; foreign words and phrases; and biographical and geographical names
* More than two hundred line drawings illustrating selected words
* Complete, precise, and easy-to-use pronunciation key
* Plus quick-reference tables of weights and measures, metric equivalents, signs and symbols, chemical elements, ZIP codes and area codes, and much more
Portable, affordable, and authoritative, The Oxford Desk Dictionary will be the first choice for those who need a dictionary for ready use and for anyone on the go.
Review
"Through clear, easy-to-read print, these companion volumes provide simple-to-use authoritative keys to standard American English."--
School Library Journal (for the
Desk Dictionary and
Desk Thesaurus)
Synopsis
Based on a database of American English complied 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.
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
About the Editor: Laurence Urdang is a distinguished lexicographer and publisher, and the founder and editor of Verbatim, The Language Quarterly. His many publication credits include The Oxford Thesaurus: American Edition, and scores of other dictionaries and language reference books.