The Chambers Dictionary

Combines authoritative definitions with the occasional humorous one.

This highly acclaimed dictionary is newly revised and offers language mavens a unique opportunity to delve into the most up-to-date, contemporary English usage. Comprehensive, easy-to-use, and free of jargon, the 21st Century Dictionary emphasizes the written and spoken English of everyday situations. The perfect reference for any word lover. Special features: Thumb Index. Clear definitions in straightforward English. Up-to-the-minute information on how words are used. Supported by Chambers Wordtrack and The British National Corpus 100 Million word database. Innovative page design gets you to the right information fast. Hundreds of usage notes, word histories, idioms, and help with pronunciation, spelling and grammar.

Contains over 1300 entries on unexplained phenomena.

This thesaurus has been designed to provide users with the most useful words first. It includes over 300 panels of thematically related words, with more than 180,000 alternative words in all.

"The Chambers Dictionary covers the latest words and meanings to enter the English language but also takes delight in preserving many rare, historical and dialect words that are omitted from other dictionaries. Thus it offers a uniquely rich coverage of English vocabulary from Shakespeare to the present day." "This dictionary has more words and definitions than any other single-volume English dictionary; accurate, clear and, on occasion, characteristically witty definitions; over 500 new words and meanings covering recent developments in technology, culture and s easy-to-follow pronunciation guidance; scholarly explanations of word origins; and extensive appendices of foreign phrases, first names, scientific information, and conversion tables."--BOOK JACKET.

Dictionaries of biography.