Sharp Typewriter PW E550 User Manual

MODEL  
The New Oxford American Dictionary  
Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English  
Garner's Modern American Usage  
PW-E550  
ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY  
OPERATION MANUAL  
Page  
• Getting Started ............................................................................2  
• Using the New Oxford American Dictionary ............................ 14  
• Using the Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English .... 18  
• Using Garner's Modern American Usage ............................... 20  
• Using the Super jump function ................................................ 22  
• Using the History function ....................................................... 24  
• Using the Calculator function .................................................. 25  
• Using the Converter function ................................................... 26  
• Appendices .............................................................................. 28  
• Introductions to the Dictionaries .............................................. 31  
• Product Support ....................................................................... 52  
 
CONTENTS  
Getting Started  
Using the Calculator function  
Using the PW-E550 for the first time ............................................................2  
Layout ...........................................................................................................5  
Basic Operation ............................................................................................7  
Set-up Menu ...............................................................................................11  
Inputting Characters ...................................................................................12  
Prior to initiating calculations .....................................................................25  
Calculation examples .................................................................................25  
Using the Converter function  
Currency converter .....................................................................................26  
Metric converter ..........................................................................................27  
Using the New Oxford American Dictionary  
Looking up a word (Filter search) ..............................................................14  
Phrase search.............................................................................................15  
Crossword solver ........................................................................................15  
Anagram solver ...........................................................................................16  
Spellcheck function.....................................................................................16  
Further information .....................................................................................17  
Appendices  
Replacing the battery .................................................................................28  
Reset procedure if trouble occurs ..............................................................29  
Specifications .............................................................................................29  
Troubleshooting ..........................................................................................30  
Using the Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English  
Looking up a word (Filter search) ..............................................................18  
Phrase search.............................................................................................19  
Further information .....................................................................................19  
Introductions to the Dictionaries  
The New Oxford American Dictionary........................................................31  
Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English ........................................43  
Garner's Modern American Usage ............................................................45  
Using Garner's Modern American Usage  
........................................................................................52  
Product Support  
Searching by a word or an essay's title (Filter Search) .............................20  
Select Glossary ..........................................................................................21  
Using the Super jump function  
How to use the Super jump function ..........................................................22  
Using the History function  
How to use the History function .................................................................24  
1
 
6. Open the unit and press  
turn the power on.  
o
to  
Getting Started  
The LCD contrast screen will appear.  
• Should a different screen appear,  
follow the reset procedure on page  
29.  
Using the PW-E550 for the first time  
Be sure to perform the following operations before using the PW-E550 for the first  
time.  
• If the power cannot be turned on:  
1. Set the battery replacement switch on the bottom  
of the unit to the ‘REPLACE BATTERY’ position.  
• Make sure the battery replacement switch is placed at the ‘NORMAL  
OPERATION’ position, then press  
o
again.  
• If the power still cannot be switched on, try following steps 1 through 6 in the  
above procedure again.  
2. Remove the battery cover.  
7. Adjust the LCD contrast by using  
, and press  
[
]
e.  
The key sound on/off screen will  
appear.  
3. Insert the battery. Make sure the battery polarity  
is correct.  
8. Select  
on/off.  
Y
or  
N
to turn the key sound  
The main menu screen will appear.  
4. Replace the battery cover.  
• The LCD contrast and the key sound  
settings can be adjusted later in the  
Set-up menu.  
5. Set the battery replacement switch to the  
‘NORMAL OPERATION’ position.  
2
 
Turning the power on/off  
Key notation used in this manual  
The power can be switched on by pressing the keys listed below.  
• All keys are framed (A, for instance); exceptions are found in the Calculator  
To turn off the power, press  
o
.
section, where the numeral entries are shown with real numbers.  
• Keys are often assigned with more than one function. The appropriate key/  
function will be shown according to the input status.  
Key  
Display status upon start-up  
o
m
Restores the display as it was before the unit was switched off  
(Resume function).  
<Example 1>  
will be shown as either ‘  
<Example 2>  
will be shown as either ‘  
Q
G
’, ‘1’ or ‘1’ depending on the input status.  
The main menu screen appears.  
d
The main display of each dictionary and/or function appears (Direct-  
on function)  
t
g
s
a
’ or ‘+’ depending on the input status.  
• The functions indicated with green typeface are second functions. Press and  
release , then press an appropriate key.  
^
<Example 1>  
^ l directs to press and release  
^ w directs to press and release  
^
^
, then press  
, then press  
l
w
(
f
(<  
).  
).  
Auto power off function  
To save the battery, the PW-E550 will automatically turn its power off if no key  
operations are detected for a set period of time. The initial activation interval setting  
is 5 minutes, but it can be adjusted by following the directions on page 12.  
To attach a commercially available strap  
A carrying strap can be attached, as shown in the picture below (strap not  
included).  
Caution:  
• Do not swing the unit by the strap, or use excessive  
force to pull the strap. Doing so will cause a  
malfunction or hardware damage to the unit.  
Back of the unit  
3
 
Data contained in the PW-E550  
Note:  
The dictionary data contained in this unit are based on the following dictionaries:  
• New Oxford American Dictionary © Oxford University Press 2001  
• For full information on the contents of the dictionaries, see Introductions on  
pages 31–51.  
• The Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English © Oxford University Press  
1999  
• This product does not contain most of the appendix data (including the preface,  
etc.) found in the book version.  
• Garner's Modern American Usage © Bryan A. Garner 2003  
• The product does not contain illustrations and photographs found in the book  
version.  
* All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a  
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior  
permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by  
law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organiza-  
tion. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should  
be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press.  
* The data includes some words that are, or are asserted to be, proprietary names  
or trademarks. Their inclusion does not imply that they have acquired for legal  
purposes a nonproprietary or general significance, nor is any other judgment  
implied concerning their legal status. In cases where the editor has some  
evidence that a word is used as a proprietary name or trademark, this is  
indicated by the designation ‘trademark’, but no judgment concerning the legal  
status of such words is made or implied thereby.  
• The data content of each Dictionary is mostly retained faithful to the original.  
However, some sections of the dictionary contents have had to be altered due to  
the limitations of the LCD display and for other reasons; these modifications have  
been implemented under the provisions of the publisher(s). In some rare cases,  
misspellings and/or mistypings may be found; these are ‘errors’ that have been  
retained unmodified from the source Dictionaries.  
4
 
Layout  
Display symbols  
Display  
(Refer to the next page for details)  
Dictionary/function  
selection key  
Menu key  
Font size shift key  
Clear key  
Power on/off key  
Back space key  
2nd function key  
Utility keys for Dictionaries  
Escape key  
Page scroll key  
Cursor keys  
Enter key  
5
 
Key assignments  
Display symbols  
: Opens the input screen for the New Oxford American Dictionary  
This symbol will be displayed when the battery level is low. Promptly  
replace the old battery with a new one.  
: Opens the input screen for the Oxford American Thesaurus of Current  
English  
Indicates that the key sound (beep) is set to ON.  
: Opens the input screen for Garner's Modern American Usage  
: Opens the input screen for the spell checker  
: Opens the calculator function screen  
Indicates that  
^
has been pressed.  
These arrows suggest that more contents can be browsed by scrolling up/  
down the window.  
{ } : Press to scroll up/down per text row.  
< > : Press to scroll up/down per visible window.  
: Opens the history list of each Dictionary  
Note:  
: Brings up a ‘digest’ view of descriptions  
• In this manual, symbols are not shown in the display examples.  
: Initiates a definition search of a term in a detailed view of each Dictionary  
: Selects a Note icon in the detailed view  
• Certain symbols may appear on the display only when the LCD contrast is set to  
dark. Please ignore these symbols as they are not used by this product.  
Operation guidance message  
: 2nd function key  
Activates the second function (printed in green) assigned to the next key  
pressed.  
A brief guidance message may appear at the bottom of the screen to help you  
utilise functions more effectively.  
6
 
Selecting a dictionary / function in the main menu  
Basic Operation  
Inputting words for a dictionary search  
Press  
m.  
The main menu appears.  
In this section, the basic search operation is described. For details, refer to the  
manual chapter for each dictionary.  
• Select an item by its index number  
using the number keys (  
). The initial screen of the selected  
item appears.  
• The desired item can also be selected by using the { } keys, followed by  
pressing the key.  
1
through  
<Example>  
5
Find definitions of ‘sharp’ in the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
1. Press  
d
to display the input  
e
screen for the New Oxford American  
Dictionary, then input ‘sha’.The entries  
starting with ‘sha’ is listed.  
2. Enter ‘rp’ to complete the spelling. The  
list is narrowed down further.  
3. While the ‘ ’ indication is visible on the left of ‘sharp’, press  
e.  
• Press  
f
to go back to the previous view.  
• Press ^ l to list the headwords in the New Oxford American  
Dictionary.  
Note:  
To learn different searching methods from those above, refer to the manual  
chapter for each dictionary.  
7
 
List view: selecting an item; scrolling  
Filter search view: selecting an item; scrolling  
Press  
of the New Oxford American Dictionary,  
then press . The list view of the  
d
to display the initial screen  
Press  
d
, then type  
A
, and  
B.  
‘ab’ is entered, and words starting from  
‘ab’ listed.  
e
New Oxford American Dictionary appears.  
Selecting an item or a word  
Selecting each entry  
Use the corresponding number key to the index number on the left of each item, or  
Use } { to place the cursor (indicated as ‘ ’ on the left of the listed items) at  
use the  
the  
{
e
or  
key.  
}
key to place the cursor on the desired item, followed by pressing  
the desired entry, then press  
e. The detailed view of the entry appears.  
Scrolling the view  
Scrolling the view  
Refer to the section ‘Scrolling the view’ in the previous section, ‘List view: selecting  
an item; scrolling’.  
’ and/or ‘ ’ may appear on the left side of the screen, indicating that more  
information can be browsed by scrolling up/down the view.  
1) Press  
once.  
}
>
once to scroll down one text row. To scroll back one text row, press  
{
2) Press  
to scroll down a page. Press  
<
to scroll the page up.  
• Press and hold these keys to continuously scroll the lines/pages.  
8
 
Detailed view: scrolling  
Shifting the displayed character size (z)  
Press  
d
, then type  
A
, and  
e
.
Press the  
12 dot-based (vertical pixel resolution) or 9 dot-based characters can be selected.  
For instance, press to display the 12 dot characters to 9 dot characters.  
Press again to toggle back the displayed characters to 12 dot-base.  
z
key to shift the character size to be displayed.  
The detailed view with definitions appears.  
z
z
Browsing contents above/below the screen  
’ and/or ‘ ’ may appear on the left  
side of the screen, indicating that more  
information can be browsed by  
scrolling up/down the view. Use } {  
9 dot-based  
• The character size setting will be retained until the next time  
• The key is functional in the following views:  
12 dot-based (default)  
z
is pressed.  
or > <  
.
z
• The list view, detailed view, filter search view or Quick view of each Dictionary  
• The Super jump window  
Scrolling up/down to the previous/next entry header  
Press ^ n to show the next entry header. To show the previous entry  
• The contents of the Note  
header, press ^ w  
.
Recalling the terms previously searched (h)  
Other useful keys  
The history of up to 30 items in each dictionary is automatically stored, and can be  
recalled easily by selecting the word in the history list. (For more information, see  
page 24.)  
f
:
Restores the previous view  
b
:
Shows the input screen of each Dictionary or the initial display of a  
function  
^ l: Shows the list view starting from the previously displayed header  
9
 
Listing a summary of detailed view items (q)  
Browsing Notes (r)  
The Quick view function suppresses some examples and additional information,  
and lists the main sections and senses from each detailed view entry. Use this  
function to browse quickly through the summary of an entry.  
A Note icon (  
) may appear in the detailed view. This indicates that a note can  
be selected to view extra information (additional information, usage note, etc.) of  
the entry.  
<Example>  
Press  
icon will be selected, and use the } { ] [ keys to select the desired icon if  
necessary, then press to view the contents.  
To exit, press twice. The first push of the  
r
to select the icon. If more than one icon is visible, then the topmost  
1. In the detailed view shown on page 9,  
e
press  
q.  
f
f
key closes the contents view,  
The Quick view screen appears.  
then the second deselects the icon.  
<Example>  
Browse the Note contents of ‘earth’ in the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
1. Open the detailed view of ‘earth’.  
2. While the relevant sense or section is on the screen, select the desired item by  
the index number. The detailed view of the selected sense/section appears.  
The symbol ‘ ’ in front of ‘earth’  
means that the word has a Note.  
• Press  
q
in the Quick view to display the detailed view.  
Searching a word on the screen (v)  
2. Use the  
>
key or  
}
key to scroll  
A word or jump icon ( ) in the detailed view can be selected for searching. (For  
more information, see page 22.)  
down the view so that a Note icon will  
be visible.  
3. Press  
r. The Note icon will be  
selected (reversed).  
4. Press  
e. The contents of the  
Note is displayed.  
10  
 
Note:  
Set-up Menu  
Using the  
r
key will display the following:  
Press  
m
to display the main menu,  
. The set-up menu appears.  
• The New Oxford American Dictionary  
• Usage notes  
then press  
5
• Additional (boxed) information  
• Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English  
• Additional information  
Select a desired item to change the setting.  
To delete the history list, see page 24.  
• Garner’s Modern American Usage  
• Additional information  
Setting the key sound on/off  
The key sound (a short audible beep when a key is pressed) can be set to on or off.  
1. Press  
m
,
5
, then  
1, to toggle the key sound on or off.  
A splash message appears to indicate the change of setting, then the main  
menu will be displayed.  
11  
 
Setting the Auto power off activation time  
Inputting Characters  
This product automatically turns its power off to save the battery. The auto power off  
time is set to five minutes by default.  
Methods of inputting characters are described in this section.  
Character entry  
1. Press  
m
,
5
, then  
2.  
A simple example of inputting characters is shown below.  
<Example>  
The Auto power off setting screen  
appears.  
Enter a word ‘clear’ for search.  
1. Press  
2. Type ‘clear’.  
On the keyboard, press  
d
to open the input screen of the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
2. Use the  
duration, then press  
{
,
}
,
[
e
and  
]
keys to place the check mark on the desired  
.
C
,
L
,
E,  
A
, then  
R.  
The time will be set, then the main menu will be displayed.  
Adjusting the LCD contrast  
Select this menu item to adjust the LCD contrast.  
Note:  
1. Press  
2. To adjust the LCD contrast, use the  
press to return to the main menu.  
m
,
5
, then  
3.  
• While entering characters, exclude characters such as spaces, hyphens,  
apostrophes, slashes, and periods.  
[
(Lighter) key or  
]
(Darker) key, then  
e
<Example>  
Starting Auto Demo mode  
Word  
fast food  
weak-kneed  
let's  
Entry for search  
fastfood  
weakkneed  
lets  
Activate the Auto demo for a guided tour through the key features of the product.  
1. Press  
• Press  
menu.  
m
,
5
, then  
5
, to start the Auto demo mode.  
f
or  
e
to end the Auto demo mode and return to the main  
either/or  
a.m.  
eitheror  
am  
12  
 
• Convert uppercase letters to lowercase.  
Modifying entry  
<Example>  
Deleting unnecessary characters  
Word  
AC  
Entry for search  
<Example>  
ac  
uk  
1. Press  
d
to open the input screen of the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
UK  
2. Type ‘external’.  
• Spell out the numbers when applicable.  
<Example>  
Word  
4WD  
A5  
Entry for search  
fourwd  
3. While the cursor is at the end of the string, press  
(
three times to delete ‘nal’.  
afive  
4. Next, press  
cursor under the letter ‘t’.  
[
three times to move the  
• Enter ‘and’ instead of ‘&’.  
To enter ‘£’, place ‘l’ instead.  
• When searching for a word with accented characters (such as ‘ü’, ‘á’, etc.), enter  
their unaccented equivalents via the keypad (such as ‘u’, ‘a’, etc.).  
5. Press  
(
once to delete a character on the left of cursor. ‘x’ will be deleted.  
Adding characters  
<Example>  
6. In the above example, press  
N
to  
insert a letter ‘n’ on the left of the  
cursor. The search will be narrowed  
with the word ‘enter’.  
Note:  
• Press  
b
to delete all characters entered.  
13  
 
To search a different word, simply input a new spelling for the word, or press  
or to go to the dictionary's input screen.  
b
d
Using the New Oxford American  
Dictionary  
If there is no match found  
As you input the spelling of the desired  
word, the dictionary will narrow down the  
matching candidates. If the match is  
narrowed down to none (i.e. no word starting  
with the spelling is found in the Dictionary),  
the message ‘similar words’ appears.  
In this Dictionary, definitions of a word can be found by entering its spelling.  
Features such as Phrase search, Crossword solver, and Anagram solver are also  
available.  
Looking up a word (Filter search)  
A definition of a word can be looked up by inputting its spelling.  
<Example>  
In this case, press  
e
to list the  
dictionary entries alphabetically after the entered spelling.  
Note about entering characters  
Find the definition of ‘advance’.  
1. Press  
American Dictionary.  
d
to open the New Oxford  
While entering characters, exclude characters such as spaces, hyphens,  
apostrophes, slashes, and periods. See page 12 for details.  
The input screen appears.  
Note:  
2. Input the spelling of ‘advance’.  
• The wildcard character ‘?’ must not be entered in the input field of the Dictionary.  
The wildcard character ‘?’ can be used in the Crossword solver (see page 15).  
As you type, candidates for matching  
narrow. If the desired word is found, then there is no need to type any more  
letters.  
• Up to 24 characters can be entered in the input field of the Dictionary. When  
searching words containing 25 characters or more, narrow down the search to  
select the words from the list manually.  
3. While ‘ ’ appears on the left of ‘advance’, press  
the word appears.  
e. The detailed view of  
Browsing Notes  
To browse contents on the next/previous page, press } { or > <. You  
may also find the Quick view function useful.  
When the  
icons appear in the detailed view, a note can be selected and  
browsed. For details, refer to pages 10–11.  
• If a word selected is a close derivative of a headword, it may not have its own  
definitions. In these cases, it is helpful to scroll up within the detailed view to  
find the definitions of the headword itself.  
Note:  
A headword with a Note is marked with an asterisk ( ).  
In many cases, the  
icon only appears at the bottom of an entry, but  
To search for a word in the detailed view, use the Super jump function.  
contains important information about usage of the headword as a whole. If unsure  
about usage, scroll down to the bottom of the entry to access any relevant notes.  
• Press  
f
to return to the previous screen.  
• Press ^ l to list the headwords in the New Oxford American  
Dictionary.  
14  
 
Phrase search  
Crossword solver  
To search for idioms or phrasal verbs, enter no more than three words in the input  
field. The phrases containing ALL the entered words can be searched for.  
Use a wildcard character ‘?’ to search for words with ambiguous spellings. Place the  
appropriate number of ‘?’ characters in the places of characters yet to be  
determined.  
<Example>  
<Example>  
Search for a phrase containing ‘take’ and ‘care’.  
Find a matching word for a query ‘ma???n’.  
1. Press  
Press  
d
to open the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
1. Press  
d
to open the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
key twice to place the cursor at the ‘Crossword solver’, then press  
}
once to place the cursor at the ‘Phrase search’, then press  
e.  
Press the  
}
The input screen of the Phrase search appears.  
e
.
2. Input ‘take’, press  
‘care’.  
}, followed by  
The Crossword solver's input screen appears.  
2. Type ‘ma???n’ into the input field. Press  
To input more than one word, input  
each word in the separate input field.  
Use the } { keys to move the  
cursor. Each input field can accommo-  
date up to 24 characters.  
the  
?
key three times to enter ‘???’.  
3. Press  
e
to start the search.  
A list of the wildcard matches appear.  
Up to 100 words may be displayed in  
the list.  
3. Press  
e.  
A list of phrases containing the words appears.  
If no matching phrase is found, then a message ‘Not Found!’ will momentarily be  
displayed.  
4. In the list, select a desired word using the number keys.  
The detailed view with definitions of the selected word appears.  
4. Select the desired index of the phrase using the number key(s). The definition of  
the selected phrase is displayed.  
• Press  
f
to return to the previous view.  
• Press  
f
to return to the previous view.  
• Press ^ l to list the headwords in the New Oxford American  
Dictionary.  
• Press ^ l to list the index of phrases containing the words.  
To initiate another search, simply type in the new spelling or press  
return to the input screen of the Crossword solver.  
b
to  
To search for a new phrase, simply begin inputting new words, or press  
to go back to the input screen to start a new search.  
b
15  
 
Anagram solver  
Spellcheck function  
A word or series of letters can be entered to find any matching anagrams found in  
the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
The spellcheck function can be helpful when the exact spelling of a query word is  
not known.  
<Example>  
<Example>  
Find anagrams for ‘dear’.  
You are not sure whether ‘liason’ or ‘liaison’ is correct.  
1. Press  
d
to open the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
1. Press  
s
to open the input screen  
of the spellcheck function.  
Press the  
}
three times to place the cursor at the ‘Anagram solver’, then press  
e
. The input screen of the Anagram solver appears.  
2. Place ‘dear’ in the input field, then  
press to initiate the search.  
e
Up to 100 words may be displayed in  
the list.  
2. Enter ‘liason’.  
3. In the list of matches, use the number keys to select a word.  
The detailed view with definitions of the selected word appears.  
3. Press  
e
to initiate the spellcheck function.  
• Press  
f
to return to the previous view.  
Words with similar spellings will be listed.  
• Press ^ l to list the headwords in the New Oxford American  
Dictionary.  
• While ‘Searching... Press [ENTER] to break’ is visible, press  
e
to stop  
the search. Note that if the search is interrupted, the list of possible results  
may not include all the closest matches.  
To initiate another search, simply type in the new spelling or press  
return to the input screen of the Anagram solver.  
b
to  
• If the word is typed with the correct spelling, it will appear at the top of the  
displayed list.  
• If two or more words with an identical spelling are found in the list, then the  
relevant headword will also be displayed, after an arrow symbol.  
16  
 
4. In the list, select a desired word using the number keys. The detailed view with  
descriptions of the word is displayed.  
• If a word selected is not in its original form, and cannot be found as a  
headword, then the detailed view of the word's original form will be displayed.  
It may be necessary to scroll down within the detailed view to find the desired  
word form.  
• Press  
f
to go back to the previous view.  
• Press ^ l to list the headwords in the New Oxford American  
Dictionary.  
Note:  
• Up to 100 words may be displayed in the list.  
If the list of words does not appear as expected:  
• Searching words with particular spellings may take more time to complete than  
others.  
• If no word is given, a message ‘Not Found!’ will momentarily be displayed,  
followed by the input screen of the spellcheck function. In this case you may wish  
to start the search again with a new spelling for the word.  
Further information  
For further information on using this dictionary, refer to the Introduction on pages  
31-42.  
17  
 
To search a word in the detailed view, use the Super jump function.  
• Press to return to the previous screen.  
f
Using the Oxford American  
Thesaurus of Current English  
Input a word in this Thesaurus to find its synonyms, as well as antonyms and other  
related terms in the detailed view.  
• Press ^ l to list the headwords in the Oxford American Thesaurus of  
Current English.  
To search a different word, simply begin inputting a new word, or press  
b
or to go to the input screen of the Oxford American Thesaurus of  
t
Current English.  
If there is no match found  
Looking up a word (Filter search)  
Find a set of related words by inputting the spelling of a given word.  
<Example>  
The same view / message appears as for the New Oxford American Dictionary. See  
page 14 for details.  
Find a set of relative words for ‘make’.  
Note about entering characters  
1. Press  
t
to open the Oxford  
While entering characters, exclude characters such as spaces, hyphens,  
apostrophes, slashes, and periods. See page 12 for details.  
American Thesaurus of Current  
English.  
Note:  
The spelling input screen of the  
Thesaurus appears.  
• Up to 24 characters can be entered in the input field. When searching words  
containing 25 characters or more, narrow down the search to select the words  
from the list manually.  
2. Input ‘make’.  
Browsing Notes  
As you type, options are narrowed. If  
the desired word is found, then you do  
not need to type any more letters.  
When the  
icons appear in the detailed view, a note can be selected and  
browsed. For details, refer to pages 10-11.  
Note:  
• Part of speech should be found on  
the right side of each headword.  
A headword with a Note is marked with an asterisk ( ).  
• In many cases, the icon only appears at the bottom of an entry, but  
3. While ‘ ’ appears on the left of ‘make’,  
contains important information about usage of the headword as a whole. If  
unsure about usage, scroll down to the bottom of the entry to access any  
relevant notes.  
press  
e. The detailed view of  
the word ‘make’ appears.  
To browse contents on the next/  
previous page, press } { or  
>
<
. You may also find the Quick  
view function useful.  
18  
 
Phrase search  
Further information  
To search for idioms or phrasal verbs, enter no more than three words in the input  
field. The phrases containing ALL the entered words can be searched for.  
For further information on using this thesaurus, refer to the Introduction on pages  
43-44.  
<Example>  
Search for a phrase containing ‘make’ and ‘up’, and find its synonyms.  
1. Press  
Press  
t
to open the Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English.  
}
once to place the cursor at the ‘Phrase search’, then press  
e.  
The input screen of the Phrase search appears.  
2. Input ‘make’, press  
‘up’.  
}, followed by  
To input more than one word, input  
each word in the separate input field.  
Use the } { keys to move the  
cursor. Each input field can accommo-  
date up to 24 characters.  
3. Press  
e.  
A list of phrases containing the words appears.  
If no matching phrase is found, then a message ‘Not Found!’ will momentarily be  
displayed.  
4. Select the desired index of the phrase using the number key(s). The detailed  
view of the selected phrase is displayed.  
• Press  
f
to return to the previous view.  
• Press ^ l to list the index of phrases containing the words.  
To search for a new phrase, simply begin inputting new words, or press  
to go back to the input screen to start a new search.  
b
19  
 
To search a word in the detailed view, or to search for an item indicated under  
the , use the Super jump function.  
Using Garner's Modern  
American Usage  
Input a word or an essay's title in Garner's Modern American Usage to find the  
latest American English usages. A word can also be searched in the Select  
Glossary.  
• Press  
f
to return to the previous screen.  
• Press ^ l to list the headings in Garner's Modern American Usage.  
To search a different word, simply begin inputting a new spelling for the word,  
or press  
b
or  
g
to go to the input screen of Garner's Modern  
American Usage.  
If there is no match found  
Searching by a word or an essay’s title (Filter search)  
The same view / message appears as for the New Oxford American Dictionary. See  
page 14 for details.  
<Example>  
Find usage examples of ‘that’.  
Note about entering characters  
1. Press  
g
to open Garner's  
Modern American Usage.  
While entering characters, exclude characters such as spaces, hyphens,  
apostrophes, slashes, and periods. See page 12 for details.  
The input screen appears.  
Note:  
• Up to 24 characters can be entered in the input field. When searching words  
containing 25 characters or more, narrow down the search to select the words  
from the list manually.  
2. Input the spelling of ‘that’.  
As you type, the match narrows. If the  
desired word is found, then you do not  
need to type any more letters.  
Browsing Notes  
When the  
icons appear in the detailed view, a note can be selected and  
browsed. For details, refer to pages 10-11.  
• In this example, the rows headed by  
‘ ’ contain subheadings within the  
entry for ‘that’.  
Note:  
Unlike other dictionaries, a headword with a Note in Garner’s Modern American  
Usage is not marked with an asterisk.  
3. While ‘ ’ appears to the left of ‘that’,  
press  
e. The detailed view of  
the word ‘that’ appears.  
To browse contents on the next/  
previous page, press } { or  
>
<
. You may also find the Quick  
view function useful.  
20  
 
If there is no match found  
Select Glossary  
Search for a word’s definition in the Select Glossary.  
<Example>  
The same view / message appears as for the New Oxford American Dictionary. See  
page 14 for details.  
Find a definition of ‘lexicology’.  
Note about entering characters  
1. Press  
g
,
}
then  
e
to  
While entering characters, exclude characters such as spaces, hyphens,  
apostrophes, slashes, and periods. See page 12 for details.  
open the Select Glossary input screen  
of Garner’s Modern American Usage.  
Note:  
• Up to 24 characters can be entered in the input field. When searching words  
containing 25 characters or more, narrow down the search to select the words  
from the list manually.  
2. Input ‘lexico’.  
As you type, options are narrowed. If  
the desired word is found, then you do  
not need to type any more letters.  
Further information  
For further information on using this dictionary, refer to the Introduction on pages  
45-51.  
3. While ‘ ’ appears on the left of ‘lexicology’, press  
the word ‘lexicology’ appears.  
e. The detailed view of  
To browse contents on the next/previous page, press } { or > <. You  
may also find the Quick view function useful.  
To search a word in the detailed view, or to search for an item under the Jump  
icon ( ), use the Super jump function.  
• Press  
f
to return to the previous screen.  
• Press ^ l to list the headwords in the Select Glossary of Garner’s  
Modern American Usage.  
To search a different word, simply begin inputting a new word, or press  
to go to the Select Glossary input screen of Garner’s Modern American  
Usage.  
b
21  
 
5. Use the number keys to select a desired word in the list (Press  
example).  
1
in this  
Using the Super jump function  
Use the Super jump function to select any word in the detailed view of each  
dictionary, then initiate a search based on the selected word.  
The definition of the selected word is displayed in the Super jump window.  
• Press to go back to the previous view.  
• When ‘ ’ and/or ‘ ’ appears on the left side of the window, } { or  
f
>
<
can be used to scroll the window.  
How to use the Super jump function  
<Example>  
6. Press  
of the selected word.  
e to jump to the definition  
The detailed view of the selected word  
appears.  
Initiate a Super jump search via the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
1. In the New Oxford American Dictionary, show the detailed view of the word  
‘function’.  
• Press  
view.  
f
to display the previous  
2. Press  
v. The cursor  
Note:  
appears to select the first word in the  
view.  
• A Super jump search from any of the dictionaries will return matching entries  
in the following dictionaries:  
• The New Oxford American Dictionary  
• Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English  
• Garner’s Modern American Usage (excluding the Select Glossary)  
3. Use the } { ] [ keys to move  
the cursor (and its selection of word) to  
a desired word.  
• For items marked with a Jump icon ( ) found in Garner's Modern American  
Usage, the Super jump executes a cross-reference upon selection.  
• The pressing of  
v
moves the cursor to the next.  
4. While the desired word is selected,  
press  
e.  
The Super jump window appears to display selectable items.  
• A list of matching words is displayed. If the selected word is in a variant or  
inflected form, the original spelling may be displayed instead.  
• If only one match is found, or if an item indicated by the Jump icon ( ) is  
selected, then the description of the item will be displayed in the Super jump  
window instead.  
22  
 
Specifying a Dictionary to jump to  
In step 4 above, press  
d
,
t
or  
g
instead of pressing  
e, to  
specify the Dictionary to jump to.  
Note icon in the Super jump window  
When the Note icon appears in the Super jump window, press  
to view the contents.  
r
and  
e
About the detailed view after the Jump  
• The behavior and function of the detailed view is the same as the detailed view  
after an ordinary search.  
• Press  
• A chain of multiple Super jump actions can be backtracked up to 10 times by  
pressing the key.  
b
at the detail view to go back to the Dictionary's input screen.  
f
23  
 
Deleting a history item  
Using the History function  
1. Display the history list on the screen.  
2. Use the  
}
or  
{
key to place the cursor on the word to be deleted. The reverse  
Use the History function to recall a headword or phrase previously searched in the  
Dictionaries.  
color indicates the selected item.  
3. Press  
4. Press  
(
. A confirmation dialog for deletion appears.  
. The selected word or phrase is deleted.  
Y
How to use the History function  
<Example>  
Deleting the history list of a Dictionary  
Recall the search history in the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
1. Press  
2. Press  
m
, then  
5
to open the Set-up menu.  
1. Press  
2. Press  
d
to open the New Oxford American Dictionary.  
. The history view  
4
to select ‘Deleting history’.  
h
3. Use the number keys to select the history list you wish to delete. A confirmation  
dialog for deletion appears.  
appears, with the most recent search  
placed at the top of the list.  
To delete all history lists, select ‘ALL.  
When ‘ ’ and/or ‘ ’ appears on the  
• Selecting ‘only DICT’ or ‘only THES’ will also delete the history list of each  
phrase search.  
left side of the window, } { or  
>
<
can be used to scroll the window.  
4. Press  
Y. The selected history is deleted and the main menu appears.  
3. Use the number keys to select a desired word in the list.  
The detailed view of the selected word appears.  
Note:  
• Each dictionary has its own history list. Additionally, the New Oxford American  
Dictionary and the Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English each have  
their own phrase search history lists.  
• The Select Glossary of Garner’s Modern American Usage does not have a  
history list.  
To view the history list, press  
h
at the initial screen of each Dictionary,  
and the initial screen of each phrase search.  
Truncated words in the list are indicated with trailing ‘...at the end.  
• Each history list can contain up to 30 items.  
24  
 
Calculation examples  
Using the Calculator function  
Example  
Operation  
Display  
–8.  
(–24) 4 – 2 =  
÷
! - 24  
/
4
-
2
=
The built-in calculator in the Electronic Dictionary can perform twelve-digit  
arithmetic calculations with memory function. To access the Calculator function,  
34 + 57 =  
45 + 57 =  
34  
45  
+
57  
=
=
The second figure (57)  
becomes the constant.  
91.  
press  
a.  
102.  
(Subtraction and division are performed in  
the same way as above.)  
Prior to initiating calculations  
68  
68  
×
×
25 =  
40 =  
68  
*
25  
40  
=
=
The first figure (68)  
1,700.  
2,720.  
20.  
• Before performing any calculation, press @ @ b to clear the  
memory and the display.  
becomes the constant.  
To start a calculation with a negative number, place a subtraction sign by  
What is 10% of 200?  
200  
*
10  
%
pressing  
-
at the beginning of the calculation.  
What percentage is 9 of 36?  
9
/
36  
%
25.  
• If you wish to correct a wrong entry, press  
!
and re-enter the figure.  
200 + (200  
500 – (500  
(43)2 =  
×
×
10 %) =  
20 %) =  
200  
500  
+
-
10  
20  
%
220.  
• In the calculation examples found in this section, indications and icons that may  
appear on the screen (‘=’, ‘M+’, ‘M-’, ‘+’, ‘-’, ‘x’, and ‘÷’) are abbreviated or are not  
shown. These icons appear to show you the interim result of calculations. For  
example, the ‘=’ icon appears on the screen when  
icons such as ‘M+’ and ‘+’ appear after each corresponding key has been  
pressed.  
%
400.  
4
8
* = = * =  
/ =  
4,096.  
1/8  
0.125  
M
125.  
M
=
or  
%
is pressed, while  
25  
×
÷
5 =  
3 =  
@ @ 25  
*
5
$
–) 84  
84  
68  
/
+
3
#
28.  
M
• An ‘M’ is shown when a value other than 0 is put in the memory. To clear the  
+) 68 + 17 =  
(Total) =  
17  
$
85.  
M
content of the memory, press  
also functions as  
@
twice. Note that the pressing of  
$
or  
#
=
.
@
182.  
M
• Press to enter ‘=’. To input ‘.(decimal point), press  
• An error message ‘E’ is displayed if:  
.
@ @ 12  
135 * @ =  
@ /  
@ @ b  
+
14  
$
26.  
M
135  
×
(12 + 14) =  
5 =  
3,510.  
M
• the integer section of a calculation result exceeds 12 digits  
• the memory exceeds 12 digits  
(12 + 14)  
÷
5
=
5.2  
0.  
E
• an attempt is made to divide a number by zero.  
123456789098  
*
145  
=
123456789098  
×
145 =  
17.9012344192  
17.9012344192  
Press  
!
to clear the error condition.  
!
(17.9012344192  
×
1012 = 17901234419200)  
25  
 
3. Use the { } keys to place the cursor at the desired input field, then input the  
currency name and its rate. In this example, press and input ‘0.7’.  
}
Using the Converter function  
The Converter function consists of two converters: the Currency converter, and the  
Metric converter.  
• The currency name field of currency converter is temporarily pre-defined, as  
seen in the above example.  
• When inputting the desired currency name, press  
b
to clear the input field  
and use no more than four letters. Use the [ ] keys to set the cursor on  
the left/right of the currently selected input field.  
Currency converter  
Setting a currency rate  
• In the left input field, enter the base currency name. In the input field on the  
right, place the currency name of which you wish to set the conversion rate.  
• Up to 10 digits (excluding the decimal point) can be entered in the currency  
rate input field.  
One conversion rate can be set.  
<Example>  
4. Press  
e. The currency name and its rate are set.  
=
Set the following rate: US$1 = C0.7  
1. Press m 4 1 to access the  
Currency converter.  
Converting currencies  
The conversion calculation can be performed using the previously set conversion  
rate.  
<Example>  
=
=
Convert C175 to US$ when setting the rate: US$1 = C0.7.  
1. Press m 4 1 to display the currency converter.  
2. Press  
<. The input fields for the  
currency name and rate appear.  
2. Input ‘175’.You may input a simple formula, such as ‘35  
×
5 =’, instead.  
to execute the conversion from C to US$. The converted value of  
US$250 is displayed.  
• Pressing executes a US$-to-euro conversion. In this case, the converted  
value of C122.5 will be displayed.  
=
3. Press  
[
]
=
• The  
and  
arrows on the screen indicate the direction of conversion.  
To initiate conversion of a different value, just enter the value to be converted,  
or press  
conversion.  
• Press  
!
to clear the value in the input field prior to entering the new  
f
to return to the Converter menu.  
26  
 
Units capable of being converted  
Metric converter  
Conversions between different units of measurement (length, mass, etc.) can be  
performed.  
The following conversion formulae can be utilised.  
length1:  
inch  
feet  
cm  
m
<Example>  
Convert 40 feet to meters.  
length2:  
length3:  
yard  
m
1. Press m 4 2 to access the Metric converter.  
2. Use { } to select ‘Converter  
[length2]’.  
length4:  
mile  
km  
g
weight1:  
ounce  
pound  
°F  
weight2:  
kg  
temperature:  
volume1:  
volume2:  
volume3:  
surface area1:  
surface area2:  
°C  
pint  
liter  
liter  
liter  
km2  
hectare  
gallon(US)  
gallon(UK)  
mile2  
3. Input ‘40’.You may input a simple formula, such as ‘25 + 15 =’, instead.  
4. Press  
• Press  
‘40’ will be taken as the metric value to be converted to feet.  
• The and arrows on the screen indicate the direction of conversion.  
To initiate conversion of a different value, just enter the value to be converted,  
or press to clear the value in the input field prior to entering the new  
conversion.  
• Use the  
• Press  
]
. The value in feet is converted to the metric value.  
[
to convert from the metric value to feet. In this case, the given value  
acre  
!
}
or  
{
key to select one of the other Metric converters.  
f
to return to the Converter menu.  
27  
 
When to replace the battery  
Appendices  
Replace the battery immediately in the following cases:  
• When  
is displayed.  
Replacing the battery  
Battery used  
• When the message ‘Replace the battery’ appears upon turning the power on.  
Note:  
• If you do not follow the procedure describing the battery replacement, the  
History list, as well as the Calculator's memory, may be cleared or altered. Also,  
Currency converter and the Set-up menu configurations may be reset.  
• Use only the specified alkaline battery.  
Type  
Size / Model  
Size “AAA” / LR03  
Quantity  
1
Alkaline battery  
Replacement procedure  
1. Switch off the power by pressing  
o.  
Precautions  
2. Set the battery replacement switch located on the  
bottom of the unit to the ‘REPLACE BATTERY’  
position.  
• Fluid from a leaking battery accidentally entering an eye could result in serious  
injury. Should this occur, wash with clean water and immediately consult a  
doctor.  
• Should fluid from a leaking battery come in contact with your skin or clothes,  
immediately wash with clean water.  
3. Remove the battery cover.  
• If the product is not to be used for some time, to avoid damage to the unit from a  
leaking battery, remove it and store in a safe place.  
4. Remove the used battery and insert the one new  
battery. Make sure the battery polarity is correctly  
oriented.  
• Do not leave an exhausted battery inside the product. It may leak and damage  
the product.  
• Keep batteries out of the reach of children.  
5. Replace the battery cover.  
• Incorrect handling of batteries may introduce risk of explosion.  
• Do not throw batteries into a fire as they may explode.  
• Make sure the new battery is the correct type before fitting.  
• When installing, orient the battery correctly as indicated in the unit.  
6. Set the battery replacement switch to the ‘NORMAL OPERATION’ position.  
7. Open the unit and press  
o
to turn the power on.  
The LCD contrast screen appears.  
• If the power cannot be switched on, try following steps 2 through 7 in the  
above procedure again. Should this fail, then follow the reset procedure on the  
following page.  
• The battery packaged with this product may be partially exhausted during the  
shipment and/or storage period, and may need to be replaced sooner than  
expected.  
8. Follow the instructions on the screen to adjust the LCD contrast, as well as to set  
the key sound on/off configuration (see steps 7 through 8 of the procedure on  
page 2.)  
28  
 
Reset procedure if trouble occurs  
Specifications  
Exposure to a strong physical shock or powerful electrical fields may render the  
keys inoperable, to the point that the power cannot be switched on. If such case is  
suspected, try following the procedure below.  
Model:  
PW-E550  
Product name:  
Display:  
Electronic Dictionary  
159  
×
80 dot matrix LCD  
Reset procedures  
Number of entries:  
• The New Oxford American Dictionary:  
More than 250,000 definitions and more than 9,000  
biographical and geographical entries  
1. Press the RESET switch located on the bottom of  
the unit with the tip of a ball-point pen or similar  
object. Do not use an object with a breakable or  
sharp tip.  
• Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English:  
15,000 main entries keyed to more than 350,000  
synonyms  
The message ‘Do you want to initialize?’ appears.  
• Garner's Modern American Usage:  
More than 1,300 entries with thousands of citations  
of real-world usage  
2. Press  
Y
to initialize the unit.  
• A message ‘Initialized!’ is momentarily displayed, followed by the LCD contrast  
adjustment screen.  
Calculator function:  
12-digit calculation of addition, subtraction,  
multiplication, division, percentage, memory  
calculation, etc.  
• If  
N
is selected, then the unit will not be initialized.  
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to adjust the LCD contrast, as well as to set  
the key sound on/off configuration (see steps 7 through 8 of the procedure on  
page 2.)  
Converter function:  
Power consumption:  
Operating temperature:  
Power supply:  
12-digit conversion of currency and measurement  
0.11 W  
Note:  
0°C - 40°C (32°F - 104°F)  
The reset procedure will clear the History list, and Calculator's memory, as  
well as to reset the Currency converter and the Set-up menu configura-  
tions.To avoid these, you may press  
1.5 V … (DC): Alkaline battery LR03 (size “AAA”)  
×
1
Battery life:  
Approx. 200 hours  
If data is continuously displayed at 25°C (77°F)  
N
at step two of the above.  
• Occasionally when corruption of data etc. occurs, the reset procedure may  
Note: May vary according to various usage conditions  
Weight (including battery): Approx. 148 g (0.33 lb)  
automatically be initiated upon pressing of the RESET switch or the  
key. When this occurs, the message ‘Initialized!’ will be displayed, followed by the  
LCD contrast screen. Follow the instructions on the LCD contrast, as well as to  
set the key sound on/off configuration.  
o
Dimensions (when closed): 125 mm (W)  
×
×
79.4 mm (D)  
3-1/8" (D)  
×
16.8 mm (H)  
4-29/32" (W)  
×
21/32" (H)  
Accessories:  
Alkaline battery LR03 (size “AAA”)  
operation manual  
×
1,  
29  
 
Troubleshooting  
Solutions to possible symptoms may be found here.  
The unit cannot be switched on.  
• Check if the battery is drained. See page 28.  
• Check the battery replacement switch; it should be set at the ‘NORMAL  
OPERATION’ position. See page 2.  
• Check the polarity of the battery. See page 2.  
• Verify the LCD contrast setting; the power may be switched on, but the  
message on the screen may not be visible. See page 12.  
• If the above settings appear normal, then press the RESET switch. See page  
29.  
The screen is dark or light.  
• Adjust the LCD contrast. See page 12.  
The key sound cannot be heard.  
• The key sound may be set to OFF. See page 11.  
The unit does not respond to a key press.  
• Press the RESET switch. See page 29.  
The unit shuts off automatically.  
• The Auto power off function is in action. The activation interval of the Auto  
power off function can be adjusted. See page 12.  
The desired word cannot be found.  
• A variant form of the word may have been entered. Enter the original form.  
30  
 
nose  
CORE SENSE  
Introductions to the  
Dictionaries  
The New Oxford American Dictionary  
Introduction  
the part projecting above the mouth on the face of a person or animal,  
containing the nostrils and used for breathing and smelling.  
SUBSENSE  
SUBSENSE  
SUBSENSE  
the aroma of a particular  
substance, esp. wine.  
the sense of smell, esp. a  
dog’s ability to track  
something by its scent:  
a dog with a keen nose.  
figurative an instinctive  
talent for detecting  
something:  
he has a nose for a  
good script.  
The New Oxford American Dictionary has been compiled according to principles  
that are quite different from those of traditional American dictionaries. New types of  
evidence are now available in sufficient quantity to allow lexicographers to construct  
a picture of the language that is more accurate than has been possible before. The  
approach to structuring and organizing within individual dictionary entries has been  
rethought, as has the approach to the selection and presentation of information in  
every aspect of the dictionary: definitions, choice of examples, grammar, word  
histories, and every other category. New approaches have been adopted in  
response to a reappraisal of the workings of language in general and its relation-  
ship to the presentation of information in a dictionary in particular. The aim of this  
introduction is to give the user background information for using this dictionary and  
to explain some of the thinking behind these new approaches.  
Within each part of speech, the first definition given is the core sense. The general  
principle on which the senses in the New Oxford American Dictionary are organized  
is that each word has at least one core meaning, to which a number of subsenses  
may be attached. If there is more than one core sense (see below), this is  
introduced by a bold sense number. Core meanings represent typical, central uses  
of the word in question in modern standard English, as established by research on  
and analysis of American and World English through corpora (language databanks)  
and citation databases. The core meaning is the one that represents the most literal  
sense that the word has in ordinary modern American usage. This is not necessar-  
ily the same as the oldest meaning, because word meanings change over time. Nor  
is it necessarily the most frequent meaning, because figurative senses are  
sometimes the most frequent. It is the meaning accepted by native speakers as the  
one that is most established as literal and central.  
Structure: Core Sense and Subsense  
The first part of speech is the primary one for that word: thus, for bag and balloon  
the senses of the noun are given before those for the verb, while for babble and  
bake the senses of the verb are given before those of the noun.  
The core sense also acts as a gateway to other, related subsenses. These  
subsenses are grouped under the core sense, each one being introduced by a solid  
square symbol.  
There is a logical relationship between each subsense and the core sense under  
which it appears. The organization of senses according to this logical relationship is  
designed to help the user, not only in being able to navigate the entry more easily  
and find relevant senses more readily, but also in building up an understanding of  
how senses in the language relate to one another and how the language is  
constructed on this model. The main types of relationship of core sense to  
subsense are as follows:  
31  
 
(a) figurative extension of the core sense, e.g.,  
SUBSENSE: Economics the desire of purchasers, consumers, clients,  
employers, etc., for a particular commodity, service, or other  
Item:  
HEADWORD: backbone  
CORE SENSE: the series of vertebrae extending from the skull to the pelvis;  
the spine.  
EXAMPLE: a recent slump in demand.  
(c) other extension or shift in meaning, retaining one or more  
SUBSENSE: figurative the chief support of a system or organization; the  
mainstay:  
elements of the core sense, e.g.,  
EXAMPLE: these firms are the backbone of our industrial sector.  
HEADWORD: bamboo  
HEADWORD: bankrupt  
CORE SENSE: a giant woody grass that grows chiefly in the tropics, where it is  
widely cultivated.  
CORE SENSE: (of a person or organization) declared in law unable to pay  
outstanding debts:  
SUBSENSE: the hollow jointed stem of this plant, used as a cane or to make  
furniture and implements:  
EXAMPLE: the company was declared bankrupt.  
SUBSENSE: figurative completely lacking in a particular quality or value:  
EXAMPLE: their cause is morally bankrupt.  
EXAMPLE: [as adj.] a bamboo serving tray.  
HEADWORD: management  
CORE SENSE: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people:  
EXAMPLE: the management of elk herds.  
(b) specialized case of the core sense, e.g.,  
HEADWORD: zone  
SUBSENSE: Medicine & Psychiatry the treatment or control of diseases,  
injuries, or disorders, or the care of patients who suffer from  
them:  
CORE SENSE: [usu. with adj.] an area or stretch of land having a particular  
characteristic, purpose, or use, or subject to particular  
restrictions:  
EXAMPLE: the use of combination chemotherapy in the management of  
breast cancer.  
EXAMPLE: a pedestrian zone.  
SUBSENSE: Geography a well-defined region extending around the earth  
between definite limits, esp. between two parallels of latitude:  
HEADWORD: mandarin  
CORE SENSE: an official in any of the nine top grades of the former imperial  
Chinese civil service.  
EXAMPLE: a zone of easterly winds.  
SUBSENSE: Sports in basketball, football, and hockey, a specific area of the  
court, field, or rink, esp. one to be defended by a particular  
player, or the mode of defensive play using this system.  
SUBSENSE: a powerful official or senior bureaucrat, esp. one perceived as  
reactionary and secretive:  
EXAMPLE: a civil service mandarin  
HEADWORD: demand  
Many entries have just one core sense. However some entries are more complex  
and have different strands of meaning, each constituting a core sense. In this case,  
each core sense is introduced by a bold sense number, and each potentially has its  
own block of subsenses relating to it.  
CORE SENSE: an insistent and peremptory request, made as if by right:  
EXAMPLE: a series of demands for far-reaching reforms.  
32  
 
Specialist Vocabulary  
Encyclopedic Material  
One of the most important uses of a dictionary is to provide explanations of terms  
in specialized fields that are unfamiliar to a general user.Yet in many traditional  
dictionaries, the definitions have been written by specialists as if for other  
specialists, and as a result the definitions are often opaque and difficult for the  
general user to understand.  
Some dictionaries do not include entries for the names of people and places and  
other proper names, or include them only in separate sections. The argument for  
this is based on a distinction between “words” and “facts,” by which dictionaries are  
about “words” while encyclopedias and other reference works are about “facts.The  
distinction is an interesting theoretical one, but in practice there is a considerable  
overlap: names such as Shakespeare and Mississippi are as much part of the  
language as words such as drama or river, and they belong in a large dictionary.  
One of the primary aims of the New Oxford American Dictionary has been to break  
down the barriers to understanding specialist vocabulary. The challenge has been,  
on the one hand, to give information that is comprehensible, relevant, and readable,  
suitable for the general user, while on the other hand maintaining the high level of  
technical information and accuracy suitable for the more specialist user.  
The New Oxford American Dictionary includes all those terms forming part of the  
enduring common knowledge of English speakers, regardless of whether they are  
classified as “words” or “names.The information given is the kind of information  
that people are likely to need from a dictionary, however that information may  
traditionally be classified. Both the style of definitions in the New Oxford American  
Dictionary and the inclusion of additional material in separate blocks reflect this  
approach.  
This has been achieved in some cases, notably entries for plants and animals and  
chemical substances, by separating technical information e.g., Latin names,  
chemical formulae, from the rest of the definition (shown immediately after a bullet).  
For examples, see American crocodile and benzopyrene.  
The New Oxford American Dictionary includes more than 5,000 place-name  
entries, 4,000 biographical entries, and just under 3,000 other proper names. The  
biographical entries are designed to provide not just the basic facts (such as birth  
and death dates, full name, and nationality), but also a brief context giving  
information about, for example, a person’s life and why he or she is important.  
In other cases, it is achieved by giving additional explanatory information within the  
definition itself, typically in a separate sentence. For examples, see curling and  
alchemy.  
As elsewhere, the purpose is to give information that is relevant and interesting,  
aiming not just to define the word but also to describe and explain its context in the  
real world. Additional information of this type, where it is substantial, is given in the  
For a few particularly important encyclopedic entries—for example, countries—a  
fuller treatment is given and additional information appears in a separate note  
form of separate note (  
). For example, see earth and Eocene.  
(
).  
An especially important feature of the New Oxford American Dictionary is the  
coverage of American animals and plants. In-depth research and a thorough review  
have been carried out for animals and plants in the Americas and throughout the  
world and, as a result, a large number of entries have been included that have  
never before been included in general American dictionaries. The style and  
presentation of these entries follow the general principles for specialist vocabulary  
in the New Oxford American Dictionary: the entries not only give the technical  
information, but also describe, in everyday English, the appearance and other  
characteristics (of behavior, medicinal or culinary use, mythological significance,  
reason for the name, etc.) and the typical habitat and distribution. For examples,  
see mesosaur, blacktail deer and chia.  
33  
 
Great efforts have been made to use a minimum of specialist terminology.  
Nevertheless, a small number of terms are essential in explaining the grammar of a  
word. The less familiar terms are explained below. All terms are, of course, defined  
and explained under their own entries in the dictionary.  
Grammar  
In recent years, grammar has begun to enjoy greater prominence than in the past  
few decades. It is once again being taught explicitly in schools throughout the  
United States. In addition, there is a recognition that different meanings of a word  
are closely associated with different lexical and syntactic patterns. The New Oxford  
American Dictionary records and exemplifies the most important of these patterns  
at the relevant senses of each word, thus giving guidance on language use as well  
as word meaning.  
Terms relating to nouns  
[as adj.]: used to mark a noun that can be placed before another noun in order to  
modify its meaning, e.g., boom and bedside.  
[treated as sing.]: used to mark a noun that is plural in form but is used with a  
singular verb, e.g., mumps in mumps is one of the major childhood diseases or  
genetics in genetics has played a major role in this work.  
For example, with the word bomb, it is possible to distinguish the main senses of  
the verb simply on the basis of the grammar: whether the verb is transitive (takes a  
direct object) or intransitive (no direct object):  
[treated as sing. or pl.]: used to mark a noun that can be used with either a  
singular or a plural verb without any change in meaning or in the form of the  
headword (often called collective nouns, because they typically denote groups of  
people considered collectively), e.g., the staff are committed to this policy or the  
staff is trying to gag its critics.  
CORE SENSE: attack *(a place or vehicle)* with a bomb or bombs:  
EXAMPLE: *London* was bombed, night after night.  
GRAMMAR: [trans.]  
(The asterisks shown here match the direct object in the example with the  
parenthetical item in the definition)  
[in sing.]: used to mark a noun that is used as a count noun but is never or rarely  
found in the plural, e.g., ear in an ear for rhythm.  
CORE SENSE: informal (of a movie, play, or other event) fail miserably:  
EXAMPLE: a big-budget movie that bombed at the box office.  
GRAMMAR: [intrans.]  
Terms relating to verbs  
[trans.]: used to mark a verb that is transitive, i.e., takes a direct object (the type of  
direct object often being shown in parentheses in the definition), e.g., escort.  
This has particular relevance for a dictionary such as the New Oxford American  
Dictionary, where the aim is to present information in such a way that it helps to  
explain the structure of the language itself, not just the meanings of individual  
senses. For this reason, special attention has been paid to the grammar of each  
word, and grammatical structures are given explicitly.  
[intrans.]: used to mark a verb that is intransitive, i.e., takes no direct object, e.g.,  
quibble.  
[with adverbial]: used to mark a verb that takes an obligatory adverbial, typically a  
prepositional phrase, without which the sentence in which the verb occurs would  
sound unnatural or weird, e.g., amble.  
Where possible, the syntactic behavior of a word is presented directly: for example,  
if a verb is normally found in a particular sense followed by a certain preposition,  
this is indicated before the definition, in bold. For example, see build (build on).  
Terms relating to adjectives  
[attrib.]: used to mark an adjective that is normally used attributively, i.e., comes  
before the noun that it modifies, e.g., certain in a certain man (not the man is  
certain, which has a very different meaning). Note that attributive use is standard  
for many adjectives, especially in specialist fields: the [attrib.] label is used only to  
In other cases, collocations that are typical of the term in use, though not  
obligatory, are shown highlighted within the example sentence. For examples, see  
ball game (a whole new ball game) and bet (your best bet).  
34  
 
mark those cases in which predicative use would be less usual.  
Oxford’s own North American Reading Program, an ongoing research project in  
which readers select citations from a huge variety of specialist and nonspecialist  
sources in all varieties of English. These resources mean that Oxford lexicogra-  
phers are in a position to see how words normally behave. By using concordancing  
techniques, each word can be viewed almost instantaneously in the immediate  
contexts in which it is used. Since the Oxford Reading Program is ongoing, and  
growing at a rate of 4.5 million words a year, Oxford lexicographers have the most  
up-to-date language resource of an American dictionary, with the majority of the  
citations coming from sources of the past two decades.  
[predic.]: used to mark an adjective that is normally used predicatively, i.e., comes  
after the verb, e.g., ajar in the door was ajar (not the ajar door).  
[postpositive]: used to mark an adjective that is used postpositively, i.e., typically  
comes immediately after the noun that it modifies (such uses are unusual in  
English and generally arise because the adjective has been adopted from a  
language where postpositive use is standard), e.g., galore in there were prizes  
galore.  
Terms relating to adverbs  
The Oxford databank shows at a glance that some combinations of words (called  
“collocations”) occur together much more often than others. For example,  
concordance entries might show that “end in,end the,and “end up” all occur quite  
often. But are any of these combinations important enough to be given special  
treatment in the dictionary?  
[sentence adverb]: used to mark an adverb that stands outside a sentence or  
clause, providing commentary on it as a whole or showing the speaker’s or writer’s  
attitude to what is being said, rather than the manner in which something was done.  
Sentence adverbs most frequently express the speaker’s or writer’s point of view,  
although they may also be used to set a context by stating a field of reference, e.g.,  
certainly.  
Recent research has focused on identifying combinations that are not merely  
frequent but also statistically significant. In the Oxford databank, the two words “end  
the” occur frequently together but they do not form a statistically significant unit,  
since the word “the” is the most common in the language. The combinations end up  
and end in, on the other hand, are shown to be more significant and tell the  
lexicographer something about the way the verb end behaves in normal use. Of  
course, a dictionary for general use cannot go into detailed statistical analysis of  
word combinations, but it can present examples that are typical of normal usage. In  
the New Oxford American Dictionary particularly significant or important patterns  
are highlighted, in bold, e.g., end in, end up under end.  
[as submodifier]: used to mark an adverb that is used to modify an adjective or  
another adverb, e.g., comparatively.  
Evidence and Illustrative Examples  
The information presented in the dictionary about individual words is based on  
close analysis of how words behave in real, natural language. Behind every  
dictionary entry are examples of the word in use—often hundreds and thousands of  
them—that have been analyzed to give information about typical usage, about  
distribution (whether typically American or typically British, for example), about  
register (whether informal or derogatory, for example), about currency (whether  
archaic or dated, for example), and about subject field (whether used only in  
medicine or finance, for example).  
For further details, see the previous section on Grammar.  
Specialist Reading  
A general dictionary databank does not, by definition, contain large quantities of  
specialized terminology. For this reason, additional research and collection of  
citations in a number of neglected fields (for example, antique collecting, food and  
cooking, boats and sailing, photography, video and audio, martial arts, and  
alternative medicine) was done to ensure the thorough coverage of these fields.  
Additionally, specialists in nearly 100 different areas reviewed entries for accuracy.  
Databank and Citation Evidence  
Extensive use has been made of Oxford’s text databank resources, which include a  
carefully balanced selection of 100 million words of written and spoken English text  
(equivalent to one person’s reading over ten years) in machine-readable form,  
available for computational analysis, and about 64 million words of citations from  
35  
 
Examples  
nevertheless well known to many people—have traditionally simply been ignored in  
dictionaries. The New Oxford American Dictionary gives an account of widely held  
but often erroneous folk etymologies for the benefit of the general user, explaining  
competing theories and assessing their relative merits where applicable. See the  
folk etymologies at posh and cherub.  
The New Oxford American Dictionary contains many more examples of words in  
use than any other comparable dictionary. Generally, they are there to show typical  
uses of the word or sense. All examples are authentic, in that they represent actual  
usage. In the past, dictionaries typically have used made-up examples, partly  
because not enough authentic text was available and partly through an assumption  
that made-up examples were somehow better in that they could be tailored to the  
precise needs of the dictionary entry. Such a view finds little favor today, and it is  
now generally recognized that the “naturalness” provided by authentic examples is  
of the utmost importance in giving an accurate picture of language in use.  
Researching word histories is similar in some respects to archaeology: the  
evidence is often partial or not there at all, and etymologists must make informed  
decisions using the evidence available, however inadequate it may be. From time to  
time, new evidence becomes available, and the known history of a word may need  
to be reconsidered. In this, the New Oxford American Dictionary has been able to  
draw on the extensive expertise and ongoing research of the Oxford English  
Dictionary.  
Word Histories  
The etymologies in standard dictionaries explain the language from which a word  
was brought into English, the period at which it is first recorded in English, and the  
development of modern word forms. While the New Oxford American Dictionary  
does this, it also goes further. It explains sense development as well as morphologi-  
cal (or form) development. Information is presented clearly and with a minimum of  
technical terminology, and the perspective taken is that of the general user who  
would like to know about word origins but who is not a philological specialist. In this  
context, the history of how and why a particular meaning developed from an  
apparently quite different older meaning is likely to be at least as interesting as, for  
example, what the original form was in Latin or Greek.  
Usage Notes (  
)
Interest in questions of good usage is widespread among English speakers  
everywhere, and many issues are hotly debated. In the New Oxford American  
Dictionary, traditional issues have been reappraised, and guidance is given on  
various points, old and new. The aim is to help people to use the language more  
accurately, more clearly, and more elegantly, and to give information and offer  
reassurance in the face of some of the more baffling assertions about “correctness”  
that are sometimes made.  
This reappraisal has involved looking carefully at evidence of actual usage (in the  
Oxford databank, the British National Corpus, the citations collected by the Oxford  
North American Reading Program, and other sources) in order to find out where  
mistakes are actually being made, and where confusion and ambiguity actually  
arise. The issues on which journalists and others tend to comment have been  
reassessed and a judgment made about whether their comments are justified.  
For example, the word history for the word oaf shows how the present meaning  
developed from the meaning ‘elf,while the entry for compass shows how the sense  
‘magnetic compass’ may have been influenced by Italian.  
Additional special features of the New Oxford American Dictionary include “internal  
etymologies” and “folk etymologies.Internal etymologies are given within entries to  
explain the origin of particular senses, phrases, or idioms. For example, how did the  
figurative use of red herring come about? Why do we call something a flash in the  
pan? See the internal etymologies under red herring and flash.  
From the 15th century onward, traditionalists have been objecting to particular  
senses of certain English words and phrases, for example, “due to” and “hopefully.”  
Certain grammatical structures, too, have been singled out for adverse comment,  
notably the split infinitive and the use of a preposition at the end of a clause. Some  
of these objections are founded on very dubious arguments, for example, the notion  
that English grammatical structures should precisely parallel those of Latin or that  
The New Oxford American Dictionary presents the information in a straightforward,  
user-friendly fashion immediately following the relevant definition.  
In a similar vein, folk etymologies—those explanations that are unfounded but  
36  
 
meaning change of any kind is inherently suspect. For examples of notes on such  
dated:  
no longer used by the majority of English speakers, but still  
issues, see preposition, due and hopefully.  
encountered occasionally, especially among the older generation.  
The usage notes in the New Oxford American Dictionary take the view that English  
is English, not Latin, and that English is, like all living languages, subject to change.  
Good usage is usage that gets the speaker’s or writer’s message across, not usage  
that conforms to some arbitrary rules that fly in the face of historical fact or current  
evidence. The editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary are well aware that  
the prescriptions of pundits in the past have had remarkably little practical effect on  
the way the language is actually used. A good dictionary reports the language as it  
is, not as the editors (or anyone else) would wish it to be, and the usage notes must  
give guidance that accords with observed facts about present-day usage.  
archaic:  
very old-fashioned language, not in ordinary use at all today, but  
sometimes used to give a deliberately old-fashioned effect, or found  
in works of the past that are still widely read.  
historical:  
still used today, but only to refer to some practice or artifact that is no  
longer part of the modern world.  
literary:  
poetic:  
found only or mainly in literature written in an “elevated” style.  
found only or mainly in poetry.  
technical:  
normally used only in technical and specialist language, though not  
necessarily restricted to any specific subject field.  
This is not to imply that the issues are straightforward or that there are simple  
solutions, however. Much of the debate about use of language is highly political,  
and controversy is, occasionally, inevitable. Changing social attitudes have  
stigmatized long-established uses, such as the word “man” to denote the human  
race in general, for example, and have highlighted the absence of a gender-neutral  
singular pronoun meaning both “he” and “she” (for which purpose “they” is now  
often used). Similarly, words such as “race” and “native” are now associated with  
particular problems of sensitivity in use. The usage notes in the New Oxford  
American Dictionary offer information and practical advice on such issues. For  
examples, see man and native.  
rare:  
not in normal use.  
humorous: used with the intention of sounding funny or playful.  
dialect:  
not used in standard American English, but still widely used in  
certain local regions of the United States.  
offensive:  
language that is likely to cause offense, particularly racial offense,  
whether the speaker intends it or not.  
derogatory: language intended to convey a low opinion or cause personal  
offense.  
vulgar slang: informal language that may cause offense, often because it refers to  
the bodily functions of sexual activity or excretion, which are still  
widely regarded as taboo.  
Standard English  
Unless otherwise stated, the words and senses recorded in this dictionary are all  
part of standard English; that is, they are in normal use in both speech and writing  
everywhere in the world, at many different levels of formality, ranging from official  
documents to casual conversation. Some words, however, are appropriate only in  
particular contexts, and these are labeled accordingly. The technical term for a  
particular level of use in language is register.  
The New Oxford American Dictionary uses the following register labels:  
formal:  
normally used only in writing, in contexts such as official documents.  
informal:  
normally used only in contexts such as conversations or letters  
between friends.  
37  
 
The complexity of the overall picture has necessarily been simplified, principally for  
reasons of space and clarity of presentation. For example, a label such as “chiefly  
Brit.implies, but does not state, that a term is not standard in American English,  
though it may nevertheless be found in some local varieties in the United States.  
The label “Brit.,on the other hand, implies that the use is found typically in  
standard British English but is not found in standard American English, though it  
may be found elsewhere.  
World English  
English is spoken as a first language by more than 300 million people throughout  
the world, and used as a second language by many millions more. It is the  
language of international communication in business, diplomacy, sports, science,  
technology, and countless other fields.  
The main regional standards are American, British, Canadian, Australian and New  
Zealand, South African, Indian, and West Indian. Within each of these regional  
varieties, a number of highly differentiated local dialects may be found. For  
example, within American English, Southern and Appalachian English have a long  
history and a number of distinctive features, which have in turn influenced other  
varieties.  
Spelling  
It is often said that English spelling is both irregular and illogical, and it is certainly  
true that it is only indirectly related to contemporary pronunciation. English spelling  
reflects not modern pronunciation but the pronunciation of the 16th and 17th  
centuries, in particular through the influence of the works of Shakespeare and the  
Authorized Version of the Bible. However, in the two centuries between Chaucer  
and Shakespeare, English pronunciation had undergone huge changes, but  
spelling had failed to follow.  
The scope of a dictionary such as the New Oxford American Dictionary, given the  
breadth of material it aims to cover, must be limited for the most part to the  
vocabulary of the standard language of the United States rather than world English  
variation. Nevertheless, the New Oxford American Dictionary includes thousands of  
regionalisms encountered in standard contexts in the different English-speaking  
areas of the world. For examples, see bunyip, kaross, parkade, serviette, snog,  
tuque and tyke.  
In the 18th century, standard spelling became almost completely fixed. The  
dictionaries written in this period, particularly Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the  
English Language (1755), helped establish this standard, which, with only minor  
change and variation, is the standard accepted in British English today. Just over  
fifty years after the American colonies became independent, in 1828, Noah  
Webster published a dictionary with many of the spellings that we recognize today  
as being distinctly American rather than British. The complex history of the English  
language, together with the absence of any ruling body imposing “spelling reform,”  
has ensured that many idiosyncrasies and anomalies in standard spelling have not  
only arisen but have also been preserved.  
The underlying approach has been to get away from the traditional, parochial  
notion that “correct” English belongs to a chosen few in any one geographical area  
or social class. A network of consultants in all parts of the English-speaking world  
has assisted in this by giving information and answering queries—by e-mail, on a  
regular, often daily basis—on all aspects of the language in a particular region.  
Often, the aim has been to find out whether a particular word, sense, or expression,  
well known and standard in American English, is used anywhere else. The picture  
that emerges is one of complex interactions among an overlapping set of regional  
standards.  
The New Oxford American Dictionary gives advice and information on spelling,  
particularly those cases that are irregular or that otherwise cause difficulty for  
native speakers. The main categories are summarized below.  
The vast majority of words and senses in the New Oxford American Dictionary are  
common to all the major regional standard varieties of English, but where important  
local differences exist, the New Oxford American Dictionary records them. There  
are over 6,000 geographical labels on words and senses in this dictionary, but this  
contrasts with more than ten times that number that are not labeled at all.  
38  
 
Variant spellings  
sentences in the New Oxford American Dictionary but is not otherwise explicitly  
mentioned in the dictionary entries.  
The main form of each word given in the New Oxford American Dictionary is always  
the standard American spelling. If there is a standard variant, e.g., a standard  
British spelling variant, this is indicated at the top of the entry and is cross-referred  
if its alphabetical position is more than five entries distant from the main entry. For  
examples, compare esophagus/oesophagus and phyllo/filo.  
A similar alternation is found in compound adjectives such as well intentioned.  
When used predicatively (i.e., after the verb), such adjectives are unhyphenated,  
but when used attributively (i.e., before the noun), they are hyphenated: his remarks  
were well intentioned; a well-intentioned remark.  
A general rule governing verb compounds means that, where a noun compound is  
two words (e.g., beta test), any verb derived from it is normally hyphenated (to  
beta-test: the system was beta-tested). Similarly, verbal nouns and adjectives are  
more often hyphenated than ordinary noun or adjective compounds (e.g., epoch-  
making).  
Other variants, such as archaic, old-fashioned, or informal spellings, are cross-  
referred to the main entry, but are not themselves listed at the parent entry. For  
example, compare cyder/cider.  
Hyphenation  
Although standard spelling in English is fixed, the use of hyphenation is not. In  
standard American English, a few general rules are followed, and these are  
outlined below.  
Inflection  
Compared with other languages, English has comparatively few inflections, and  
those that exist are remarkably regular. We add an -s to most nouns to make a  
plural; we add -ed to most verbs to make a past tense or a past participle, and -ing  
to make a present participle.  
Hyphenation of noun compounds: There is no hard-and-fast rule to determine  
whether, for example, airstream, air stream, or air-stream is correct. All forms are  
found in use: all are recorded in the Oxford databank and other standard texts.  
However, there is a broad tendency to avoid hyphenation for noun compounds in  
modern English (except when used to show grammatical function: see below). Thus  
there is, for example, a preference for airstream rather than air-stream, and for air  
raid rather than air-raid. Although this is a tendency in both American and British  
English, there is an additional preference in American English for the form to be  
one word and in British English for the form to be two words, e.g., airfare tends to  
be the most common form in American English, while air fare tends to be the most  
common form in British English. To save space and avoid confusion, only one of the  
three potential forms of each noun compound (the standard American one) is  
generally used as the headword form in the New Oxford American Dictionary. This  
does not, however, imply that other forms are incorrect or not used.  
Occasionally, a difficulty arises: for example, a single consonant after a short  
stressed vowel is doubled before adding -ed or -ing (hum, hums, humming,  
hummed). In addition, words borrowed from other languages generally bring their  
foreign inflections with them, causing problems for English speakers who are not  
proficient in those languages.  
In all such cases, guidance is given in the New Oxford American Dictionary. The  
main areas covered are outlined below.  
Verbs  
The following forms are regarded as regular and are therefore not shown in the  
dictionary:  
Grammatical function: Hyphens are also used to perform certain grammatical  
functions. When a noun compound made up of two separate words (e.g., credit  
card) is placed before another noun and used to modify it, the general rule is that  
the noun compound becomes hyphenated, e.g., I have overused my credit card and  
am now in credit-card debt. This sort of regular alternation is seen in example  
• third person singular present forms adding -s to the stem (or -es to stems ending  
in -s, -x, -z, -sh, or soft -ch), e.g., find  
• past tenses and past participles dropping a final silent e and adding -ed to the  
stem, e.g., change changed; dance danced  
finds; crush  
crushes  
39  
 
• present participles dropping a final silent e and adding -ing to the stem, e.g.,  
change changing; dance dancing  
Adjectives  
The following forms for comparative and superlative are regarded as regular and  
are not shown in the dictionary:  
Other forms are given in the dictionary, notably for:  
• verbs that inflect by doubling a consonant, e.g., bat  
batted, batting  
tries, tried  
• verbs in which past tense and past participle do not follow the regular -ed  
• words of one syllable adding -er and -est, e.g., great  
• words of one syllable ending in silent e, which drop the -e and add -er and -est,  
e.g., brave braver, bravest  
• words that form the comparative and superlative by adding “more” and “most”;  
e.g., beautiful more beautiful, most beautiful  
greater, greatest  
• verbs ending in -y that inflect by changing -y to -i, e.g., try  
pattern, e.g., feel  
past and past participle felt; awake  
past awoke; past  
participle awoken  
• present participles that add -ing but retain a final e (in order to make clear that  
Other forms are given in the dictionary, notably for:  
the pronunciation of g remains soft), e.g., singe  
singeing  
• adjectives that form the comparative and superlative by doubling a final  
consonant, e.g., hot  
• two-syllable adjectives that form the comparative and superlative with -er and -  
est (typically adjectives ending in -y and their negative forms), e.g., happy  
hotter, hottest  
Nouns  
Plurals formed by adding -s (or -es when they end in -s, -x, -z, -sh, or soft -ch) are  
regarded as regular and are not shown, e.g., dog dogs; lunch lunches  
Other plural forms are given in the dictionary, notably for:  
• nouns ending in -i or -o, e.g., agouti agoutis; albino  
• nouns ending in -a, -um, or -us that are or appear to be Latinate forms, e.g.,  
alumna alumnae; spectrum spectra; alveolus alveoli  
• nouns ending in -y, e.g., fly flies; party parties  
• nouns with more than one plural form, e.g., crux cruxes or cruces; money  
moneys or monies  
happier, happiest; unhappy  
unhappier, unhappiest  
Syllabification  
albinos  
In the New Oxford American Dictionary, syllable breaks are shown for main entries  
and derivatives. Although all possible breaks are shown, there are some conven-  
tions that govern how writers break words at the ends of lines. Guidelines include:  
• Avoid a break that will leave one letter and a hyphen at the end of the line or one  
letter (or one letter and a punctuation mark such as a period) at the beginning of  
a line.  
• nouns with plurals showing a change in the stem, e.g., foot  
lice  
feet; louse  
• Avoid breaking a word that is already hyphenated except at that hyphen (e.g.,  
self-affirmation; leather-bound).  
• nouns with plurals unchanged from the singular form, e.g., sheep  
bonsai bonsai  
sheep;  
• Never break proper names.  
• Avoid breaking abbreviations.  
40  
 
-
-
n
as in need |ned|, honor |"än@r|, maiden |"madn  
|
Key to the Pronunciations  
NG as in sing |siNG|, anger |"æNGg@r  
|
This dictionary uses a simple respelling system to show how entries are pro-  
nounced, using the symbols listed below. Generally, only the first of two or more  
identical headwords will have a pronunciation respelling. Where a derivative simply  
adds a common suffix such as -less, -ness, or -ly to the headword, the derivative  
may not have a pronunciation respelling unless some other element of the  
pronunciation also changes.  
-
-
-
o
as in go |go|, promote |pr@"mot|  
ô
as in law ||, thought |THôt|, lore |lôr|  
-
oi  
as in boy |boi|, noisy |"noize  
|
oo as in wood |wood|, football |"foot%bôl|, sure |SHoor  
|
˘
˘
˘
˘
-
-
-
oo as in food |food|, music |"myoozik  
|
-
æ
as in hat|hæt|, fashion |"SH@n|, carry |"kære  
|
ow as in mouse |mows|, coward |"kow(-@)rd  
|
-
-
-
-
-
a
as in day |da|, rate |rat|, maid |mad|, prey |pra  
as in lot |lät|, father |"TH@r|, barnyard |"bärn%yärd  
as in big |big  
|
p
r
as in put |poot|, cap |kæp|  
˘
ä
|
as in run |r@n|, fur |f@r|, spirit |"spirit  
|
-
b
|
s
as in sit |sit|, lesson |"les@n|, face |fas|  
-
CH as in church |CH@rCH|, picture |"pikCH@r  
|
SH  
t
as in shut |SH@t|, social |"soSH@l|, action |"ækSH@n  
|
-
d
e
as in dog |dôg|, bed |bed  
|
as in top |täp|, seat |set  
|
-
-
as in men |men|, bet |bet|, ferry |"fere  
|
t
as in butter |"b@t@r|, forty |"fôrte|, bottle |"bätl|  
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
e
as in feet |fet|, receive |ri"sev  
as in air |er|, care |ker  
|
-
TH as in thin |THin|, truth |trooTH  
|
er  
@
f
|
TH as in then |THen|, father |"TH@r  
|
-
-
as in about |@"bowt|, soda |"sod@|, mother |"m@TH@r|, person |"p@rs@n  
|
v
as in never |"nev@r|, very |"vere  
|
-
-
as in free |fre|, graph |græf|, tough |t@f  
|
w
as in wait |wat|, quit |kwit  
|
g
h
i
as in get |get|, exist |ig"zist|, egg |eg|  
(h)w as in when |(h)wen|, which |(h)wiCH  
|
-
as in her |h@r|, behave |bi"hav  
|
-
y
z
as in yet |yet|, accuse |@"kyooz|  
as in fit |fit|, guild |gild|, women |"wimin  
|
-
as in zipper |"zip@r|, musician |myoo"ziSH@n  
|
-
-
-
-
-
l
l
as in time |  
as in ear |ir|, beer |bir|, pierce |pirs  
as in judge |j@j|, carriage |"kærij  
as in kettle |"ketl|, cut |k@t|, quick |kwik  
t
l
m
|, guide |  
g
l
d
|, hire |  
h
l
r
|, sky |sk  
|
ZH as in measure |"meZH@r|, vision |"viZH@n  
|
ir  
j
|
|
k
l
|
-
-
as in lap |læp|, cellar |"sel@r|, cradle |"kradl  
|
-
m
as in main |man|, dam |dæm  
|
41  
 
Foreign Sounds  
Variant Pronunciations  
KH as in Bach |KH  
|
There are several ways in which variant pronunciations are indicated in the  
respellings.  
A fricative consonant pronounced with the tongue in the same position as for  
|, as in German Buch and ich, or Scottish loch.  
|
k
Some respellings show a pronunciation symbol within parentheses to indicate a  
-
-
N
œ
Y
as in en route |äN"root|, Rodin |ro"N  
The | | does not represent a consonant; it indicates that the preceding vowel  
is nasalized, as in French bon (bon voyage) and en (en route).  
as in hors d’oeuvre |ôr"dœvr@|, Goethe |"gœt@  
A vowel made by rounding the lips as with | | while saying |  
|
possible variation in pronunciation; for example, in sandwich |"sæn(d)wiCH  
sometimes the | | is pronounced, while at other times it is not.  
|
N
d
Variant pronunciations may be respelled in full, separated by semicolons. The more  
common pronunciation is listed first, if this can be determined, but many variants  
are so common and widespread as to be of equal status.  
|
-
ô
e| or |a|, as in  
French boeuf and feu, or German Hölle and Höhle.  
Variant pronunciations may be indicated by respelling only the part of the word that  
changes. A hyphen will replace the part of the pronunciation that has remained the  
same. These ‘cutback’ respellings will occur primarily in three areas:  
-
as in Lully |lY"le|, Utrecht |"Y%treKHt  
|
-
-
A vowel made by rounding the lips as with |oo| or |oo| while saying |  
i
| or |  
e
|,  
˘
as in French rue or German fühlen.  
a) where the headword has a variant pronunciation:  
- -  
-
quasiparticle |%kwaz "pärt@k@l|; |%kwäze-|  
l
-
Stress Marks  
b) in derivative forms:  
Stress (or ‘accent’) is represented by marks placed before the affected syllable. The  
primary stress mark is a short, raised vertical line | | which signifies that the  
heaviest emphasis should be placed on the following syllable. The secondary stress  
mark is a short, lowered vertical line | | which signifies a somewhat weaker  
dangle |"NGg@l  
|
"
dangler |-gl@r  
|
-
dangly |-gle  
|
%
Note: Cutbacks in derivatives always refer back to the headword respelling, not the  
preceding derivative.  
emphasis than on the syllable with primary stress.  
c) at irregular plurals:  
parenthesis |p@"renTH@sis  
|
-
parentheses |-%sez  
|
Note: A hyphen sometimes serves to separate syllables where the respelling might  
-
otherwise look confusing, as at reinforce |%re-in"fôrs|.  
42  
 
bank1 noun 1 a grassy bank: slope, rise, incline ....  
bank2 verb bank an aircraft: tilt, slope, slant ....  
bank3 noun 1 borrow from the bank: financial institution;  
commercial bank ....  
Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English  
Guide to The Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English  
HEADWORDS  
The text of The Oxford American Thesaurus of Current English is organized under  
headwords, which are displayed in bold type. The headwords are listed in strict  
alphabetical order.  
If two or more headwords are identical in spelling but have different parts of  
speech, homograph numbers are not used. This does not necessarily imply that  
these entries share the same etymology.  
ENTRIES  
Many English words have two or more acceptable spellings; in this dictionary, the  
one used is the one regarded as being the most common. Occasionally, two  
spellings share nearly equal usage; in such cases, the headwords include both  
forms. For example:  
Each entry contains a list of words that are synonyms of the headword: i.e., the  
words can be used in place of the headword in most (although not all) contexts.  
When a word has more than one meaning, the different senses of the word are  
numbered. In many instances, example phrases (followed by symbol) indicate the  
particular sense and illustrate the use of the word. In some cases, two or more  
examples are given; these are separated by a vertical bar (|). For example:  
cagey, cagy adjective guarded, secretive, noncommittal,  
cautious, chary, wary, careful, shrewd, wily ....  
contribute verb 1 contribute money/time to the charity | happy  
to contribute: give, donate, hand out ....  
PARTS OF SPEECH  
A headword is always followed by its part of speech. When a word has two or more  
different parts of speech, it is listed more than once with separate entries for each.  
For example:  
Note that a slash (/) is used to separate alternative words in order to save space.  
The slash applies only to the two words it separates; thus “contribute time/money”  
can be read as “contribute time” and “contribute money”.  
obscure adjective 1 obscure references: unclear, indeterminate,  
opaque ....  
obscure verb 1 obscure the main issue: confuse, blur, muddle ....  
SUBENTRIES  
Verb phrases are included as subentries (in bold type) under a main entry. For  
example:  
Not all parts of speech of a word are necessarily included as headwords. For  
example, many words that function as adjectives can also function as adverbs. In  
such cases, the adverbial senses are included only when they have useful sets of  
synonyms.  
chance verb 1 it chanced that they arrived last: happen, occur,  
take place, come about, .... 2 have to chance it: risk, hazard,  
gamble, .... chance on/ upon chance upon an old friend |  
chanced on the answer: come across, meet, stumble on, come  
upon, encounter; inf. bump into, run into.  
HOMOGRAPHS  
Certain words have the same spelling but different meanings and different  
etymologies (origins). Such words, known as homographs, are treated as separate  
headwords, even when they have the same part of speech. For the purposes of  
cross-referencing, homograph numbers are included in order to distinguish identical  
headwords with the same part of speech. For example:  
43  
 
groups are always set off by semicolons. For example:  
GROUPS WITHIN SENSES  
acquit verb .... vindicate, liberate, free, deliver; fml. exculpate.  
work noun .... effort, exertion, labor, toil, sweat, drudgery, trouble,  
industry; lit. travail; inf. grind, elbow grease.  
In general, the synonyms in an entry are separated by commas. However, there are  
cases in which the words fall naturally into two or more distinct groups, which are  
separated by semicolons. There are various reasons for subdividing a sense in this  
way:  
the usage labels used in this thesaurus are abbreviated as follows:  
derog.  
fml.  
inf.  
derogatory  
formal  
informal  
literal  
Grammatical Differences  
Within a given sense, some synonyms may function differently from others. For  
example:  
lit.  
acclaim noun .... praise, commendation, approval, approbation,  
homage, tribute, extolment, laudation; cheers, congratulations,  
plaudits, bouquets.  
Med.  
TM  
Medicine  
trademark  
CROSS-REFERENCES  
In the acclaim entry, the semicolon separates the singular nouns from the plural  
nouns. There are other grammatical reasons for subdividing synonym groups; for  
instance, a headword may function as both a transitive verb (taking a direct object)  
and an intransitive verb (without an object), whereas some of the synonyms may be  
only intransitive or only transitive.  
A cross-reference to a main entry is indicated by capitals and is preceded by “See”.  
Where necessary, the part of speech and sense number are also given. For  
example:  
abasement noun humiliation, belittlement, lowering, .... See  
ABASE.  
alternate adjective 1 alternate weeks: every other, every  
second .... See ALTERNATIVE adjective 1.  
Relationship of Meanings  
Within a given sense, there sometimes are synonyms whose meanings share a  
relationship that sets them apart from the other synonyms in that sense. For  
example:  
A cross-reference to a subentry follows the same format but also includes the main  
entry (given in parentheses). For example:  
age verb mature, ripen, grow up, come of age; grow old, decline,  
wither, fade, become obsolete.  
bag noun receptacle; handbag, pocketbook, purse, shoulder  
bag; case, suitcase, grip, flight bag, ....  
discount verb .... 4 discount the products: mark down, reduce,  
put on sale.  
Antonym(s): NOTE; INCREASE; mark up (see MARK).  
In the entry for age, a semicolon is used to separate the “maturing” senses of age  
from the “growing old” senses. In the bag entry, semicolons separate the general  
synonym “receptacle” from the specific synonyms, which themselves are separated  
into categories of bags.  
ANTONYMS  
Many entries contain a list of antonyms (opposites). For example:  
dally verb ....  
Antonym(s): HURRY; HASTEN.  
Restricted Usage  
Note that antonyms in capitals are cross-references.  
Some synonyms are separated into labeled groups of restricted usage. Such  
44  
 
ALLITERATION  
A. Purposeful Examples  
B. Overcapitalizing  
C. Titles  
Garner’s Modern American Usage  
B. Accidental Examples  
D. Up-Style Headings  
E. All Capitals  
F. Small Caps  
G. After Colon  
H. Names  
LIST OF ESSAY ENTRIES  
AMERICANISMS AND BRITISHISMS  
A. Generally  
This data contains essentially two types of entries: (1) word entries, which discuss  
a particular word or set of words; and (2) essay entries, which address larger  
questions of usage and style. For ease of reference, the essay entries-whose titles  
appear throughout the data in capitals-are listed below.  
B. Americanisms Invading BrE  
C. Britishisms Invading AmE  
D. Related Entries  
-CAST  
CASUALISMS  
A. Generally  
ABBREVIATIONS  
A. Acronyms and Initialisms  
H. Modification of Adjectives  
Ending in -ed  
ANIMAL ADJECTIVES  
ANTE-; ANTI-  
B. Resulting Redundancies  
C. Initialese  
D. Plurals  
I. Adjectives Ending in -ly  
J. Adjectives That Follow the Noun  
K. Dates as Adjectives  
L. Comparative and Superlative  
Adjectives  
B. Changes over Time  
C. Shortened Forms  
D. Proliferation  
ANTICIPATORY REFERENCE  
APPOSITIVES  
-ABLE  
ARCHAISMS  
-CE; -CY  
A. Choice of -able or -ible  
B. Attaching -able to Nouns  
C. Attaching -able to Intransitive  
Verbs  
D. Converting -ate Verbs into -able  
Adjectives  
A. Generally  
B. Mistakes Caused by Archaism  
CENTURY DESCRIPTIONS  
CHRONOLOGY  
-CIDE  
M. Animal Adjectives  
N. Adjectives as Nouns  
O. Adjectives as Verbs  
P. Nouns as Adjectives  
Q. Pronunciation  
-ATABLE  
BACK-FORMATIONS  
CLASS DISTINCTIONS  
CLICHÉS  
BE-VERBS  
R. Adjective-Noun Disagreement  
A. Wrongly Omitted in Nonfinite  
Uses  
B. Circumlocutions with Be-Verbs  
C. For say  
E. Dropping or Retaining the  
Medial -e-  
CO-  
ADVERBS  
A. Hyphenation with  
B. Attaching to Noun Phrase  
C. When Unnecessary  
A. Placement of Adverbs  
B. Awkward Adverbs  
C. Double Adverbs  
D. Adjectives or Adverbs After  
Linking Verbs  
ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS  
ABSTRACTITIS  
D. Reduplicative Copula  
ADJECTIVES  
BI-; SEMI-  
COLLECTIVE NOUNS  
A. Number  
A. Definition  
BUREAUCRATESE  
BURIED VERBS  
-C-; -CK-  
B. Uncomparable Adjectives  
C. Coordinate Adjectives  
D. Proper Names as Adjectives  
E. Adjectives vs. Adverbs  
F. Past-Participial Adjectives  
G. Phrasal or Compound  
Adjectives  
E. Adverbs vs. Adjectives  
B. BrE vs. AmE  
AE  
COMMERCIALESE  
-AGOG(UE)  
COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES  
A. Choice Between Comparative  
and Superlative  
CANNIBALISM  
-AHOLIC; -AHOLISM  
AIRLINESE  
CAPITALIZATION  
A. Generally  
45  
 
B. Which to Use-Suffixes or more  
and most?  
C. Be-Verbs Repeated After  
Comparatives  
D. The Double Comparative  
E. Greater of A [or] B; greater of A  
[and] B  
F. Ending Sentences with  
Danglers  
C. Verbose Constructions  
D. An Infrequent Error: northernly  
for northerly, Etc.  
B. Comma Before the Last  
Element  
C. Within a Single Sentence  
D. And Before the Last Element  
E. Bullets  
DATES  
A. Order  
DOCUMENT DESIGN  
A. Readable Typeface  
B. White Space  
B. Month and Year  
C. As Adjectives  
D. 2010s vs. 2010’s  
E. Spans  
-ER  
C. Headings and Subheadings  
D. Avoiding All-Caps  
E. Avoiding Underlines  
F. Listing  
A. And -or  
B. And -re  
C. And -est  
F. Absolute Adjectives  
COMPUTERESE  
CONCORD  
A. Subject-Verb Disagreement  
DENIZEN LABELS  
ERGATIVE VERBS  
A. Generally  
B. Uses  
DIACRITICAL MARKS  
G. Bullets  
DIALECT  
H. Hanging Indents  
I. Ragged Right Margin  
J. Citations in Footnotes  
K. Characters per Line  
L. Select Bibliography  
B. Noun-Pronoun Disagreement  
C. Subject-Complement  
Disagreement  
D. Relative Pronoun-Antecedent  
Disagreement  
A. Definition  
C. Misuses  
B. The Nature of Dialect  
C. Dialect Exemplified  
D. Bibliography  
-ESQUE  
ETYMOLOGY  
A. English Etymology Generally  
B. Native vs. Classical Elements  
C. Etymological Awareness  
D. Folk Etymology  
E. Bibliography on English  
Etymology  
DIFFERENTIATION  
E. Adjective-Noun Disagreement  
F. Possessive Noun as Antecedent  
DOUBLE BOBBLES  
DOUBLE MODALS  
DOUBLESPEAK  
DOUBLE SUBJECTS  
DYSPHEMISM  
-ED; -’D  
DIMINUTIVES  
A. -aster  
B. -(c)ule; -culus  
C. -el  
CONTRACTIONS  
A. Generally  
B. Ill-Advised Forms  
C. Miscue with Contracted is  
D. Mispronounced Contractions  
D. -elle; -ella  
E. -en  
F. -et; -ette  
G. -ie; -y  
H. -ing  
I. -kin  
J. -let  
K. -ling  
L. -ock  
EUPHEMISMS  
EX-  
CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS  
-EDLY  
EXPLETIVES  
EXTRA-  
COUNT NOUNS AND MASS NOUNS  
-EE  
A. General Principles  
B. Word Formation  
C. Stylistic Use of  
DANGLERS  
FIRST PERSON  
A. Generally  
A. Generally  
B. Present-Participial Danglers  
C. Past-Participial Danglers  
D. Dangling Gerunds  
E. Acceptable Danglers, or  
Disguised Conjunctions  
B. Editorial we  
EN-; IN-  
FLOTSAM PHRASES  
DIRECTIONAL WORDS  
A. The Suffix -ward(s)  
B. Capitalization  
ENUMERATIONS  
A. First(ly), second(ly), third(ly);  
one, two, three  
FOOTNOTES  
A. The Good and the Bad  
46  
 
B. Versus Endnotes  
FOR-; FORE-  
G. Unsplit Infinitives Causing  
Miscues  
H. Unsplit Verb Phrases  
I. Prepositions Moved from the  
Ends of Sentences  
J. Borrowed Articles for Borrowed  
Nouns  
K. Overrefined Pronunciation  
B. Past-Participial Adjectives No  
Longer Used as Verb Forms  
C. AmE vs. BrE  
D. Dialectal Forms  
E. Derived Nouns Used as Verbs  
F. Choice Between -ed and -d  
NAMES  
A. Capitalization  
B. Jr., Sr., III, Etc.  
FORMAL WORDS  
-FREE  
C. Pronunciation of Foreign Names  
D. Names with Particles  
E. British Practices with American  
Place Names  
F. Proper Names as Adjectives  
G. Pluralizing Proper Names  
H. Names for Place Residents and  
Natives  
FUDGE WORDS  
ITALICS  
FUNCTIONAL VARIATION  
A. Generally  
A. Generally  
B. Foreign Phrases  
-IC; -ICAL  
B. Nouns as Adjectives  
C. Adjectives as Nouns  
D. Nouns as Verbs  
E. Adjectives as Verbs  
F. Prepositions as Adverbs or  
Particles  
G. Conjunctions as Prepositions  
H. Any Other Part of Speech as an  
Interjection  
-ILE; -INE  
ILLOGIC  
-IZE; -ISE  
JARGON  
I. Other Sources  
A. Generally  
LATINISMS  
NEEDLESS VARIANTS  
NEGATIVES  
B. Illogical Comparison  
C. Danglers and Misplaced  
Modifiers  
D. The Disjointed Appositive  
E. Mistaken Subject of a  
Prepositional Phrase  
F. Poor Exposition of Sequence  
G. “Times less than”  
H. “Times more than”  
LEGALESE  
A. Negative Prefixes  
B. Not un-; not in-  
C. Periphrastic Negatives  
D. Not . . . all  
LITERARY ALLUSION  
MALAPROPISMS  
METAPHORS  
FUSED PARTICIPLES  
-FY  
A. Generally  
B. Mixed Metaphors  
C. Dormant Metaphors  
NEOLOGISMS  
NONWORDS  
GALLICISMS  
GERUNDS  
NOUN PLAGUE  
METATHESIS  
I. Miscellaneous Other Examples  
NUMERALS  
GOVERNMENTAL FORMS  
HYBRIDS  
MISCUES  
INCOMPLETE SENTENCES  
A. Fragments  
A. General Guidance in Using  
B. Not Beginning Sentences with  
C. Round Numbers  
D. Decades  
E. Votes and Scores  
F. Cardinal and Ordinal  
G. Repetition  
A. Unintended Word Association  
B. Misplaced Modifiers  
C. Clear Referents  
D. Failure to Hyphenate Phrasal  
Adjectives  
B. Incomplete Sentences in  
Informal Writing  
HYPALLAGE  
HYPERCORRECTION  
A. False Latin Plurals  
B. Between you and I  
C. Number Problems  
D. Redundantly Formed Adverbs  
E. As for like  
INELEGANT VARIATION  
INTER-; INTRA-  
E. Misleading Phraseology  
F. Ill-Advisedly Deleted that  
INVERSION  
H. In Names  
MONDEGREENS  
IRREGULAR VERBS  
A. The Forms  
NUMERICAL PREFIXES  
OBJECT-SHUFFLING  
MORPHOLOGICAL DEFORMITIES  
MUTE E  
F. Whom for who  
47  
 
OBSCURITY  
PLURALS  
A. Generally  
L. Units of Time or Value  
M. Titles of Books, Films, and the  
Like  
N. Goodness’ sake and con-  
science’ sake  
B. Commonly Mispronounced  
Words  
C. Lambdacism and Rhotacism  
D. The Mispronounced -ph-  
E. Names  
OFFICIALESE  
-OR; -OUR  
B. Borrowed Words  
C. Nouns Ending in -f  
D. Nouns Ending in -o  
E. Nouns Ending in -y  
F. Proper Names  
G. Compound Nouns  
H. Differentiated Forms  
I. Acronyms and Abbreviations  
J. Mass (Noncount) Nouns  
K. Numbers and Decades  
L. Words and Letters  
M. Plural Possessives  
OVERSTATEMENT  
F. Pronunciation and enunciation  
G. Bibliography  
OXYMORONS  
A. Generally  
B. Plural  
POSTPOSITIVE ADJECTIVES  
PREPOSITIONS  
PUNCTUATION  
A. The Preposition Quotient  
B. Ending Sentences with  
Prepositions  
C. Redundant Prepositions  
D. The Wrong Preposition  
E. Prepositions as Particles or  
Adverbs  
A. Apostrophe  
B. Bullet  
C. Colon  
D. Comma  
E. Dash  
F. Ellipsis Dots  
G. Em-Dash  
H. En-Dash  
I. Exclamation Point  
J. Hyphen  
PARALLELISM  
A. Generally  
B. Parts of Speech  
C. Phrases and Clauses  
D. Content  
PASSIVE VOICE  
A. Generally  
POINTING WORDS  
A. Generally  
PROFANITY  
B. The Double Passive  
PRONOUNS  
B. This vs. that  
PER-  
A. The Basics  
B. Confusion of Nominative and  
Objective Cases  
C. Underused in Specialized  
Writing  
D. Indefinite Pronouns: Number  
E. Reflexive Pronouns  
F. Overeager Pronouns  
G. Restrictive and Nonrestrictive  
Relative Pronouns  
H. One as a Pronoun  
I. Noun-Pronoun Disagreement  
J. Relative Pronoun-Antecedent  
Disagreement  
PORTMANTEAU WORDS  
PERIPHRASIS  
K. Parentheses  
L. Period  
POSSESSIVES  
PHRASAL ADJECTIVES  
A. General Rule  
A. Singular Possessives  
B. Plural Possessives  
C. Absolute Possessives  
D. Double Possessives  
E. Joint Possessives: John and  
Mary’s house  
F. Names as Adjectives  
G. Possessives of Names Made  
with Possessives  
M. Question Mark  
N. Quotation Marks  
O. Semicolon  
P. Square Brackets  
Q. Virgule  
B. Exception for -ly Adverbs  
C. Suspensive Hyphens  
D. Duration or Amount  
E. The Compound Conundrum  
F. Proper Nouns  
G. Phrasal Adjectives Following the  
Noun  
H. Foreign Phrases  
R. Bibliography  
PUNS  
QUADRI-; QUADRU-; QUADRA-  
H. Inanimate Things  
QUESTIONS, DIRECT AND INDIRECT  
PHRASAL VERBS  
I. Phrasal Possessives  
J. Attributive Nouns Ending in -ed  
K. Possessives Followed by  
Relative Pronouns  
QUOTATIONS  
PLAIN LANGUAGE  
A. Generally  
PRONUNCIATION  
A. Use of Quoted Material  
B. Handling Block Quotations  
C. Punctuating the Lead-In  
A. General Principles  
B. A Plain-Language Library  
48  
 
D. American and British Systems  
E. Ellipses  
B. Doubling of Final Consonants in  
Inflected Forms  
C. Words with -ie- or -ei-  
D. Compounds  
O. A number of people (is) (are)  
P. One of those who (is) (are)  
Q. Each as Subject  
R. What as Subject  
S. Inversion  
C. Threatened Obsolescence of  
Perfect Tenses  
RE- PAIRS  
TITULAR TOMFOOLERY  
TMESIS  
REDUNDANCY  
SPLIT INFINITIVES  
A. Generally  
REMOTE RELATIVES  
A. Generally  
UNDERSTOOD WORDS  
VERBAL AWARENESS  
VOGUE WORDS  
VOWEL CLUSTERS  
WEASEL WORDS  
WELLERISMS  
T. Alternatives  
B. Splits to Be Avoided  
C. Justified Splits  
D. Awkwardness Caused by  
Avoiding Splits  
SUBJECT-VERB SEPARATION  
SUBJUNCTIVES  
B. The Exceptional which  
RETRONYMS  
SUPERSTITIONS  
RUN-ON SENTENCES  
SENTENCE ADVERBS  
SENTENCE ENDS  
SENTENCE LENGTH  
SESQUIPEDALITY  
SET PHRASES  
A. Never End a Sentence with a  
Preposition  
B. Never Split an Infinitive  
C. Never Split a Verb Phrase  
D. Never Begin a Sentence with  
And or But  
E. Never Write a One-Sentence  
Paragraph  
F. Never Begin a Sentence with  
Because  
G. Never Use since to Mean  
because  
H. Never Use between with More  
than Two Objects  
I. Never Use the First-Person  
Pronouns I and me  
J. Never Use Contractions  
K. Never Use you in Referring to  
Your Reader  
E. Ambiguities  
STANDARD ENGLISH  
-WISE  
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT  
A. General Rule  
WOOLLINESS  
B. False Attraction to Noun  
Intervening Between Subject  
and Verb  
C. False Attraction to Predicate  
Noun  
WORD PATRONAGE  
WORD-SWAPPING  
-WORTHY  
SEXISM  
A. Generally  
ZEUGMA  
B. The Pronoun Problem  
C. Words with man- and -man  
D. Differentiated Feminine Forms  
E. Equivalences  
F. Statute of Limitations  
G. Bibliography  
D. Compound Subjects Joined  
Conjunctively  
E. Misleading Connectives  
F. Plural Units Denoting Amounts  
G. One and one (is) (are)  
H. Thing after thing (is) (are)  
I. More than one is; more than  
one are  
J. Plural Subject Intended to  
Denote Area or Statistic  
K. One in five; one of every five  
L. Decades  
SKUNKED TERMS  
SLANG  
SLIPSHOD EXTENSION  
SOUND OF PROSE  
SWAPPING HORSES  
SYNESIS  
A. Undue Alliteration or Rhyme  
B. Awkward Repetition  
TENSES  
M. An Unusual Plural  
N. Nouns of Multitude  
SPELLING  
A. Generally  
B. Sequence of  
A. Common Misspellings  
49  
 
n. = noun  
no. = number  
NOAD = The New Oxford American  
Dictionary (2001)  
Norw. = Norwegian  
obs. = obsolete  
OE = Old English  
SOED = The New Shorter Oxford  
English Dictionary (1993)  
Sp. = Spanish  
specif. = specifically  
U&A = Eric Partridge, Usage &  
Abusage (1942)  
U.K. = United Kingdom (i.e.,  
Great Britain and-since  
1922-Northern Ireland)  
U.S. = United States  
USGPO = United States Government  
Printing Office, A Manual  
of Style (rev. ed. 1986)  
usu. = usually  
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS  
adj. = adjective  
adv. = adverb  
Eng. = English  
esp. = especially  
ex. = example  
fig. = figuratively  
fr. = from; derived from; found  
in  
Fr. = French  
G.B. = Great Britain (i.e.,  
England, Scotland, and  
Wales)  
Ger. = German  
Gk. = Greek  
ibid. = (ibidem) in the same work  
i.e. = (id est) that is  
Ital. = Italian  
Jap. = Japanese  
L. = Latin  
l.c. = lowercase  
lit. = literally  
MAU = Wilson Follett, Modern  
American Usage (1966)  
ME = Middle English  
MEU1 = H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary  
of Modern English Usage  
(1926)  
MEU2 = H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary  
of Modern English Usage  
(Ernest Gowers ed., 2d ed.  
1965)  
AHD = The American Heritage  
Dictionary of the English  
Language (4th ed. 2000)  
Am. = American  
AmE = American English  
arch. = archaic  
A.S. = Anglo-Saxon  
Aus. = Australian  
Br. = British  
BrE = British English  
c. = century  
ca. = (circa) around  
Can. = Canadian  
OED = The Oxford English  
Dictionary (2d ed. 1989)  
OED Supp. = A Supplement to the  
Oxford English Dictionary  
(4 vols., 1972-1986)  
OF = Old French  
OGEU = The Oxford Guide to  
English Usage (1983)  
orig. = originally  
p. = page  
phr. = phrase  
pl. = plural  
pmbl. = preamble  
pp. = pages  
p.pl. = past participle  
prep. = preposition  
pron. = pronoun  
pr.pl. = present participle  
quot. = quotation  
vb. = verb  
v.i. = intransitive verb  
v.t. = transitive verb  
W2 = Webster’s New Interna-  
tional Dictionary of the  
English Language (2d ed.  
1934)  
W3 = Webster’s Third New  
International Dictionary of  
the English Language  
(1961)  
cap. = capitalized  
cf. = (confer) compare with  
COD = The Concise Oxford  
Dictionary of Current  
English (8th ed. 1990)  
colloq. = colloquial  
conj. = conjunction  
DAEU = Margaret Nicholson, A  
Dictionary of American-  
English Usage (1957)  
DCAU = Bergen Evans & Cornelia  
Evans, A Dictionary of  
Contemporary American  
Usage (1957)  
W11 = Merriam-Webster’s  
Collegiate Dictionary (11th  
ed. 2003)  
WDEU = Merriam-Webster’s  
Dictionary of English  
Usage (1989)  
WNWCD = Webster’s New World  
College Dictionary (3d ed.  
1995)  
repr. = reprinted  
rev. = revised by; revision  
RH2 = The Random House  
Dictionary of the English  
Language (2d ed. 1987)  
Russ. = Russian  
ed. = edition; editor  
e.g. = (exempli gratia) for  
example  
MEU3 = R.W. Burchfield, The New  
Fowler’s Modern English  
Usage (1996)  
Scot. = Scottish  
sing. = singular  
50  
 
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE  
@
for all the vowel sounds in amok,  
burger, London  
n
as in note, clown  
n
for a French-sounding nasalized n  
a
as in fact, vat  
ng as in long, plank  
as in hot, wash  
ah as in calm, father  
ahr as in bar, start  
air as in flare, lair  
aw as in tall, law  
o
oh as in loan, home  
oi as in join, ploy  
oo as in rule, tomb  
oor as in poor, lure  
or as in board, court  
ow as in plow, loud  
ay as in page, same  
b
as in balk, job  
ch as in chief, bench  
d
e
as in deck, red  
as in leg, ferry  
p
r
as in poem, drop  
as in rank, hear  
as in seek, pass  
ee as in flea, tidy  
s
eer as in mere, tier  
sh as in sharp, trash  
as in time, boot  
f
g
h
as in fence, off  
as in go, mug  
as in harp, hold  
t
th as in thin, math  
th as in there, bathe  
--  
hw as in which, while  
uu as in took, pull  
i
I
as in rib, akin  
v
w
y
as in vague, shiver  
as in witch, away  
as in year, union  
as in zone, please  
as in time, eye  
as in jump, magic  
as in keep, school  
as in lever, pill  
j
k
l
z
zh as in measure, vision  
m
as in muck, drum  
51  
 
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the  
following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference,  
and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interfer-  
ence that may cause undesired operation.  
Product Support  
Please register on our website so we can keep you up-to-date as new products and  
services become available.  
WARNING – FCC Regulations state that any unauthorized changes or  
modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by the manufacturer  
could void the user's authority to operate this equipment.  
Product Registration and Support  
Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a  
Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.  
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful  
interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and  
can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance  
with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.  
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular  
installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or  
television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and  
on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of  
the following measures:  
If you have read the electronic dictionary operation manual, but you still require  
product support, you can:  
Call a SHARP Customer Assistance Center  
630-378-3590  
(7am to 7pm CST M-F)  
Visit our Web Site  
Send an E-mail  
– Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.  
– Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.  
– Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to  
which the receiver is connected.  
Write to our Customer Assistance Center  
SHARP Electronics Corp.  
Customer Assistance Center  
Att: WIZARD HELP  
– Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.  
1300 Naperville Drive  
Romeoville, IL 60446  
52
 
LIMITED WARRANTY  
SHARP ELECTRONICS CORPORATION warrants to the first consumer purchaser  
that this Sharp brand product (the “Product”), when shipped in its original container,  
will be free from defective workmanship and materials, and agrees that it will, at its  
option, either repair the defect or replace the defective Product or part thereof with a  
new or remanufactured equivalent at no charge to the purchaser for parts or labor  
for the period(s) set forth below.  
responsible for any incidental or consequential economic or property damage. Some  
states do not allow the exclusion of incidental or consequential damages, so the  
above exclusion may not apply to you.  
THIS WARRANTY GIVESYOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS.YOU MAY ALSO HAVE  
OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.  
This warranty does not apply to any appearance items of the Product nor to the  
additional excluded item(s) set forth below nor to any Product the exterior of which  
has been damaged or defaced, which has been subjected to improper voltage or  
other misuse, abnormal service or handling, or which has been altered or modified  
in design or construction.  
Your Product :  
Electronic Dictionary  
Warranty Period for this  
Product :  
One (1) year parts and labor from date of purchase.  
Additional Items Excluded Any consumable items such as paper, maintenance  
from Warranty Coverage : cartridge, ink cartridges supplied with the Product or  
to any equipment or any hardware, software, firmware,  
In order to enforce the rights under this limited warranty, the purchaser should follow  
the steps set forth below and provide proof of purchase to the servicer.  
The limited warranty described herein is in addition to whatever implied warranties  
may be granted to purchasers by law. ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES INCLUDING  
THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR USE ARE  
LIMITED TO THE PERIOD(S) FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE SET FORTH  
BELOW.  
fluorescent lamp, power cords, covers, rubber parts,  
or peripherals other than the Product.  
Where to Obtain Service : At a Sharp Authorized Servicer located in the United  
States. To find out the location of the nearest Sharp  
Authorized Servicer, call Sharp toll free at 1-800-BE-  
SHARP.  
Some states do not allow limitations on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the  
above limitation may not apply to you.  
What to do to Obtain  
Service :  
Ship (prepaid) or carry in your Product to a Sharp  
Authorized Servicer. Be sure to have proof of purchase  
available. If you ship or mail the Product, be sure it is  
packaged carefully.  
Neither the sales personnel of the seller nor any other person is authorized to make  
any warranties other than those described herein, or to extend the duration of any  
warranties beyond the time period described herein on behalf of Sharp.  
The warranties described herein shall be the sole and exclusive warranties granted  
by Sharp and shall be the sole and exclusive remedy available to the purchaser.  
Correction of defects, in the manner and for the period of time described herein,  
shall constitute complete fulfillment of all liabilities and responsibilities of Sharp to  
the purchaser with respect to the Product, and shall constitute full satisfaction of all  
claims, whether based on contract, negligence, strict liability or otherwise. In no  
event shall Sharp be liable, or in any way responsible, for any damages or defects in  
the Product which were caused by repairs or attempted repairs performed by  
anyone other than an authorized servicer. Nor shall Sharp be liable or in any way  
TO OBTAIN SUPPLY, ACCESSORY OR PRODUCT INFORMATION, CALL 1-800-BE-SHARP.  
 
SHARP ELECTRONICS CORPORATION  
Sharp Plaza, Mahwah, New Jersey 07430-1163  
PRINTED IN CHINA  
04DGK (TINSE0743EHZZ)  
 

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