Webster's New World Dictionary of American English/Third College Edition [Hardcover]

Victoria Neufeldt (Author), David Bernard Guralnik (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0139492984 | ISBN-13: 978-0139492983 | Publication Date: March 1990 | Edition: Leather

Newly updated throughout to reflect our changing language and evolving social, cultural, political, and scientific world, Webster's New World College Dictionary is the best language guide for today's Information Age. Recognized for more than forty years as the unsurpassed language authority -- and selected by America's leading newspapers and wire services as their official dictionary -- this distinguished reference is now the most up-to-date college dictionary available.
-- Hundreds of new words, terms, and meanings -- new entries include Afrocentric, cognitive science, cyberspace, go ballistic, Internet, and in-your-face
-- Accurate, clear, and easy-to-read definitions that provide instant understanding without further research
-- Highly readable type and a format that's easy on the eyes-specially designed for quick and easy lookups
-- Thousands of examples of current word usage that help the reader get the right sense of the word
-- More words and phrases native to American English than any other dictionary
-- Completely updated geographical and biographical entries fully integrated into the alphabetical listings

The ideal gift for students, new professionals, or entrants to the job market, this outstanding, critically acclaimed resource remains the first choice of millions in schools, colleges, offices, and homes.

"It garner(s) acclaim from critics as a consistently reliable, easy-to-use, and well-designed desk dictionary. -- Library Journal

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1600 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan General Reference; Leather edition (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0139492984
• ISBN-13: 978-0139492983
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.6 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,247,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compeling tale that takes the reader from A to zymurgy., November 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Webster's New World Dictionary of American English/Third College Edition (Hardcover)

This book holds within its pages all the ecstasy of the human condition as well as its depths of despair. The sum total of the English language is captured and brought to the light of examination. We see ourselves, we see others, we see all of humanity in black and white. Compelling, captivating and best of all not one single spelling mistake. A must read for generations.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any "College" Edition of Webster's New World Dictionary Is a Scholarly, Practical Guide to Using English Well & Effectively, December 17, 2008

By 

Gerald Parker "Gerald Parker" (Rouyn-Noranda, QC., Dominion of Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Webster's New World Dictionary of American English/Third College Edition (Hardcover)

I long have used the Webster's New World Dictionary of American English, the most recommendable and comprehensive of its variants being any designated for "college" (in U.S.A. lingo including "university") use. The edition which most people usually think of as the first edition of this dictionary was the only English dictionary which students at the college where I did my sophomore and junior years of study, in the mid-1960s, were permitted to cite as their lexical authority (the then recently debased "Collegiate" dictionary from Merrian-Webster, having been prime among the dictionaries that students were forbidden to use in their papers and assignments). There had been forerunners of the supremely fine Webster's New World Dictionary under the same title, published decades before the 1950s, under the imprint of World Publishers, but those earlier ones did not so deserve to be considered the first edition (which seems to have gone through printings from 1954 or so to 1968, of which the one that I first obtained was the 1964 printing). I have acquired and used every edition of this dictionary, right up to and including the fourth edition. I have retained each much-loved, well-used edition, keeping them in various rooms of my house for ready resort near desks, tables, or chairs where I most often read or write.

Each edition of the Webster's New World Dictionary has improved on the one that preceded it. Alas, some dictionaries (e.g., those benighted "Collegiate" dictionaries from Merriam-Webster, which fell from grace when they began to be based on the excessively permissive Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Merriam-Webster's unabridged dictionary which had displaced the rock-solid and far more trustworthy Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged 2nd Edition, on which earlier and better Merriam-Webster's "Collegiate" dictionary editions formerly and more happily had been based) and others declined in quality or, at least, in reliability as later editions appeared, when compared to former ones.

The most admirable (of many good) qualities of the Webster's New World Dictionary is the sane approach to matters of word usage; while this dictionary is "prescriptive" in indicating what pronunciations and definitions are normative, it does give alternate ones that are common but less "proper", so far as American usage is concerned. It includes an healthy amount of words in informal English and slang; unlike the too prim-and-proper Funk and Wagnall dictionaries or the American Heritage Dictionary, both quite fine but rather too staid, the Webster's New World Dictionary does not purge such words and locutions of less-then-high-pedigree from the lexicon, but, rather, admits them while it very helpfully indicates their level of English usage admissibility or inacceptability for inclusion in formal writing or speaking. Each subsequent edition of the Webster's New World Dictionary, too, has undergone a thorough updating to add new words, technical or otherwise, to the vocabulary of the language.

I tend most to rely on British dictionaries for spelling (especially Cassell's, Chamber's, and Harrap's fine recent editions of their respective dictionaries) and on specifically Canadian dictionaries (most notably the impeccable Gage dictionaries) for pronunciation or peculiarly Canadian use and origin, but for definitions, I always have preferred the best American dictionaries, especially the various editions of Webster's New World Dictionary.

The Amazon buyer cannot go wrong in purchasing any Webster's New World Dictionary. If he cannot afford or find the latest edition, any of the previous "college" editions is quite suitable and reliable. Go for it!