Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus

by Fogware Publishing

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004Y3VM
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 20, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,354 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Ideal for students, this CD-ROM version of Merriam-Webster's perennially popular dictionary and thesaurus hits the mark with a fast and friendly interface and a comprehensive database that includes more than 500,000 entries.

As in previous editions of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the content here moves well beyond simple words and etymologies to include famous political and cultural figures from world history, place names, classical allusions, and some of the latest scientific terminology (a must for any college student). Browsing through, we even found numerous entries from areas as diverse as theoretical physics and literary theory--there's truly something for everyone here. But, if users crave more information, they can link to the Web for many entries and hear a real speaker pronounce more than 100,000 entries--particularly useful for difficult words and words with non-English origins.

Installation of this CD was truly effortless, and we found the program's interface to be instantly useful; search and navigation capabilities are a real strength. In addition, users can search for clues to crossword puzzles (by inputting words with missing letters) and anagrams--and even more esoteric options, such as cryptograms (where letters are substituted with others by shifting positions along the alphabet). Better yet, users can move between thesaurus and dictionary effortlessly.

Generations of students have relied on Merriam-Webster to inform their writing and reading through college, and this revised electronic edition is sure to continue the tradition through the digital age. --Rich Dragan

Amazon.com Product Description

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus is an ideal reference tool for home, school, and office. This powerful electronic version delivers accurate, up-to-date information while you are doing word processing, composing e-mail, designing spreadsheets, preparing presentations, browsing CD-ROMs, or surfing the Web. It installs easily onto a hard drive for instant access anytime, even from other programs. Included are a dictionary with access to 215,000 definitions; a thesaurus with over 340,000 synonyms and antonyms; audio pronunciations, including variant pronunciations by real voices; search options; basic and advanced language and study tools; and a go-online menu with links to a vast array of Web-based resources.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Tool, February 4, 2001

By 

Victoria Tarrani "writer, editor, artist, des... (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus (CD-ROM)

Since I updated from Word 95 to 98 in October, 2000, I have had a great deal of difficulty accessing a usable list from the built-in Thesaurus; plus I discovered that the dictionary is not nearly as complete and easy to use as in the previous version of Word.

I am a writer, and though I own twenty or so dictionaries in hard back, I required a tool that was easier to carry with me on the road than my back breaking load of books. I needed access to the many varieties of words and their second or third meaning, as well as other words with similar meanings. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus program link directly into Word; so, with the click of the button I have a thorough and user-friendly link to my Word World.

I also am an Editor. It is imperative that I know what the meaning is of a word that one of my client uses, so if it is unfamiliar or not obvious, I now have the means to quickly review alternative definitions and edit a work with the writer's choice in mind.

This is an excellent program from a renown source. The only aspect that bothers me is that when I click on a word in my document, the program inserts it again and adds a paragraph break; this means that once I check it I then have to make the correction manually by both retyping the misspelled word and deleting the second entry and line break.

This caused me to give it a 4 star rather than 5 rating.

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well, it does WORK on a Mac..., March 17, 2001

By 

David M. Glasgow (Carlisle, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus (CD-ROM)

In writing papers, sermons, even letters, I've found this resource to be invaluable as a "quick check" to be sure I'm using a word correctly, look for a better word, or check my spelling. As for features offered, the program gets five stars in my book. The problem is that Merriam-Webster has apparently taken their Windows version of the program, with all of the clunky, non-intuitive interfacing that goes with that platform, and simply "tweaked" the code to make it work on a Mac.

A few examples:

1. Once you've searched for a word, you have to double-click in the entry box and delete the first word before you can begin typing a new search word--whereas Mac standards dictate that you'd simply Tab back to the field to select all and start again.

2. There's no hot key to toggle between the Dictionary and Thesaurus searches, or between the Basic Search, Advanced Search, and Browse functions--you have to choose these features with pop-up menus and tab buttons.

3. When you launch the application, it opens a window that is pre-configured for a 17" monitor. No problem on my desktop G3--but on my iBook the window is partially off the screen, so I have to shift the window manually to see all of it. Furthermore, though the window frame resizes, the CONTENTS of the window do NOT resize--and there are no scroll bars to see information that may be hidden if you shrink the window too far. (NOTE: the window does fit--just barely--on an iBook's 12.1" screen.)

Small problems, to be sure, but for a resource that's primarily used "on the fly" while working on other projects, anything that slows me down is frustrating. Still, I do use M-W daily, so I do consider its purchase price money well spent.

65 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dictionary and Windows NT, June 25, 2001

By 

Karl Loveridge (Roy, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary & Thesaurus (CD-ROM)

I feel slightly cheated that I can go online (...)and use a better version of the dictionary for free (it even pronounces the words. I thought this software had this feature, but I have yet to see it work.)

Chief complaints:
1. The software is unstable on both windows NT and Windows 98 machines when I use it through Microsoft Word (it crashes 4 out of 10 tries). This issue is serious enough that a patch should be made available for free.

2. The software treats the dicitonary and thesaurus as two seperate entities. Why? This isn't a book, its a computer. Make it simple without creating unnecessary hoops for the user to jump through. It gets when using a laptop without a mouse.

3. Not all words have entries in the thesaurus, which is understandable. But sometimes you think you are in dictionary mode when you are in thesaurus mode. So the program comes back, "no entries found." (another arguement why the dictionary and thesaurus should be together.)

Bottom line--the software lack polish. But it beats lugging a dictionary/thesaurus around.