Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Amazon.ca: Webster: Books

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71 Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (71 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best and Most Exhaustive Dictionaries Available, Oct 29 2000

By

T. B. Vick "T.B.V." - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Hardcover)

I have used Webster's New World Dictionary, The Merriam Webster compact dictionary and now Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary(MWCD). I must say that the MWCD is by the far the best of the three. When I am reading texts that deal with the philosophy of science or the philosophy of language I always have this dictionary with me to refer to. I have yet to find a term or a word that was not listed in MWCD. Also, in the back of the tenth edition of MWCD is a listing and description of biographical names, geographical names, abbreviations, signs and symbols for mathematics, medicine, physics, reference marks, etc., and a small "handbook of style" which explains punctuation Capitalization, Italicization, etc. Finally, this dictionary also contains a section on MLA documentation, Forms of Addresses, and an Index. Thus, not only can you find all the various usages for the words listed in the dictionary (with the etymological info, and definition), but you also get all the extra tools that I mentioned above. What more could you ask for from a dictionary? If you are a student (at any level), a writer, researcher, or just one who likes to read and have need of a dictionary from time to time, then this is the best available dictionary (in my estimation) available.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Very good for everyday use, April 29 2004

By

sadhana444 "sadhana444" (Anchorage, AK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Hardcover)

An important issue with choosing a dictionary is finding a balance that meets your needs.

My first choice of dictionaries is the 20 volume OED for depth and breadth of coverage. Some disadvantages of the OED are the price and the size. My second choice of dictionaries is the Shorter OED, which is smaller (2 volumes) and cheaper, but has about 1/3 of the entries (roughly 500,000).

My third choice of dictionaries is the "New Oxford American Dictionary," which is easy to carry and use - it has roughly 250,000 words. The NOAD is handy because it has definitions arranged in order of most common usage - "core meanings" followed by related senses. It does not have the extensive literary citations that the OED and shorter OED have.

My fourth choice of dictionaries is probably the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, which has about 450,000 words. The disadvantages of this dictionary are that the main text has not been updated since 1961 (although an 89 page addenda is added at the beginning), the layout is hard to follow, and it's a bit unwieldy.

Which brings me to my fifth choice of dictionaries, which is the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dictionary. This dictionary has roughly 200,000 words, so it loses some breadth and depth of coverage. However, it's very useful for everyday use, and a nice balance between portability and breadth and depth of coverage.

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5.0 out of 5 stars does this really need a review?, Sep 3 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Hardcover)

somethings are just great and need no reviews. This is one of them. If you read, you need this.

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