Customer Reviews

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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This is not a "junior dictionary." This dictionary is a 100% up-to-date state of the art dictionary with a comprehensive listing of any word you might encounter as well as a key for how to use it in a sentence. With that key, students can figure out how to use the word properly in speech and composition. The dictionary itself is a learning tool because the definitions of the 60,000+ words included are limited to a 2000-word vocabulary, giving the student practice while learning new words. Additionally, the dictionary has many illustrations and diagrams which list thematic vocabulary (for example everything that is under the hood of a car or everything that is in a fully-equipped kitchen). The definitions are clear and precise: look at the definition for the word "piece." In that definition you will find a flow-chart with questions like, "Is it solid?" "Is it thin?" and so on, leading the learner to words like "drop, dash, squirt, wisp, chunk, slice, slab, segment, grain, speck...." My reading students, whose first language is English, love this book also, because the defining vocabulary is within their range. It is comprehensive enough that even teachers will find definitions of unfamiliar words (for example, I just learned that "chock" is a block of wood used to wedge under a tire). This book is the best investment a student can make. It is also an investment that every teacher should make in service to his/her students

In brief: an excellent dictionary for learners of English as a foreign language! If you buy it, you will be happy that you did. It's a great tool for learners of all ages.

THIS IS NOT JUST AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY. THIS IS AN ARTWORK ON LINGUISTIC SCIENCE! YOU WILL BE AMAZED TO SEE EACH AND EVERY WORDS WITH NATURALLY,SCIENTIFICALLY STRUCTURED EXAMPLES WITH VERY SPECIAL CARE. IT'S WELL WORTH CHECKING IT OUT AS SOON AS YOU CAN,ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER! ONCE YOU'VE FOUND WHAT'S INSIDE IT, MAN, YOU WILL LOVE IT! I BET YOU WILL PROUDLY CALL IT THE BEST ENGLISH DICTIONARY IN THE WORLD YOU'VE EVER FOUND!

This dictionary is an excellent resource for both learners of English and native English speakers. I do a lot of proofreading in my job, and often need to check correct usage of words including which preposition to use. The inclusion of American and British spelling and pronunciation differences is also invaluable.

What is especially useful for learners of English in addition to the example sentences are: the notes on whether certain words are formal, informal, colloquial or offensive; the tips on politness; and the frequency of use of certain words in spoken or written English.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English is undoubtedly the best handy English Dictionary at the present time. Its American PLUS British pronunciations and the USAGE and LANGUAGE NOTE SECTIONS are especially admirable.

I've been using this excellent dictionary since the last 8 years. Actually, I can undoubtedly say that this is the BEST dictionary I have ever used for learning English! It's very simple and user-friendly.
Features include:

- Clarifications of the use of a word in a spoken compared to written English.
- Graphs to show the difference in frequency of the use between words in speech and writing, between synonyms etc.
- Highlights thousands of phrases and collocations in the nearest possible way.
- Color and black-and-white illustrations from the parts of a car to the sounds !
- Over 80,000 words and phrases with easy-to-understand definitions.
- Pronunciation key with the proper stress in the word syllabus.
- Signposts in longer entries to help you find the meaning that you need.
- References to other words and phrases, and to pictures and usage notes.
- Words that are often used together are shown in dark type, and followed by an example or an explanation e.g. under the word (argument) you will find (have an argument) (get into an argument) (win / lose an argument) etc.
- Grammatical information is shown in brackets, or in dark type before an example.
- Shows the difference between British and American English including: the pronunciation & spelling differences, words & meaning, differences in grammar, and differences in phrases & collocations.
- Appendix contains Tables (Numbers, Weights & measures, Military Ranks, Word formation, The verb "be", Irregular verbs, Geographical names,
- 3rd Edition comes in 1668 pages, published in 1997.

This is a full discipline for teaching English, not just an ordinary dictionary ! It's essential for your desk, especially if your mother tongue is not English.

I'm still trying to find any defect to this dictionary, but I couldn't yet... If you are a non-native english speaker, you have to get this one... does phrasal verbs drives you crazy??? All phr verbs are there... Usage notes of frequently used words are great as well as the illustrations!!!... the samples following the definition of the words are great to understand them... although I'm still learning, I know this book has improved my english...

This is not a "junior dictionary." This dictionary is a 100% up-to-date state of the art dictionary with a comprehensive listing of any word you might encounter as well as a key for how to use it in a sentence. With that key, students can figure out how to use the word properly in speech and composition. The dictionary itself is a learning tool because the definitions of the 60,000+ words included are limited to a 2000-word vocabulary, giving the student practice while learning new words. Additionally, the dictionary has many illustrations and diagrams which list thematic vocabulary (for example everything that is under the hood of a car or everything that is in a fully-equipped kitchen). The definitions are clear and precise: look at the definition for the word "piece." In that definition you will find a flow-chart with questions like, "Is it solid?" "Is it thin?" and so on, leading the learner to words like "drop, dash, squirt, wisp, chunk, slice, slab, segment, grain, speck...." My reading students, whose first language is English, love this book also, because the defining vocabulary is within their range. It is comprehensive enough that even teachers will find definitions of unfamiliar words (for example, I just learned that "chock" is a block of wood used to wedge under a tire). This book is the best investment a student can make. It is also an investment that every teacher should make in service to his/her students

I like the book very much. I love it. I keep it in a saft place, I always put it away after studying. NOTE:
I've found a bug on page 1637, look at the entry "widow", (NOT window).
the entry has "-see aslo GRASS WIDOW" cross-reference, but I can't find the entry "grass widow", the nearest entry found is "grassy". I'm not complaining. The dictionary is very useful, very handy. I'm a foreign student studying Computer Science in US. Excuse my English.

This is perfect dictionary if you wanna learn english of all kinds: formal, informal, slang, literary. etc. It only uses the most common words to define a word. It defines a word in American/British/Australian/Canadian/NewZealander/Pakistani/ Indian meanings. This was the first English to English dictionary i ever used, i was scared at first, but i was tired of unsatisfactory results in English to my native language. This dictionary proved to be amazing, its easy as 1-2-3. The usage notes, wonderful pictures, other illustrations to define words are extremely helpful useful. There's simply no other dictionary like this. I recently moved to USA from Pakistan. Looking at how i speak and write/read english ,nobody can believe believe that i just moved here. Some people assume i'm born american. I even learned that word 'assume' with help of this dictionary that is more helpful than the dictionaries translated in my couple of native languages. By the way, after moving to USA, i soon bought Longman dictionay of american english with CD-ROM. :-)