Questions tagged [dictionaries]
Questions about English dictionaries
284
questions
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14 views
Names for the levels of a dictionary entry
What are the names for the different "levels" of a dictionary entry, especially for the Oxford English Dictionary entries displayed by Google?
E.g., I find a LOT of levels in the dictionary ...
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0answers
15 views
Online Dictionary that shows “Word Family”? [migrated]
I want an online dictionary where I will look for a word and it will show the definition with the word family.
For example: If I search "Enigma"
It will show the definition along with the ...
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0answers
16 views
The meaning of “caterpillar” as a verb
From "Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man" by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, quoting RWS's Captain Walter Clough-Taylor:
"... I noticed there were girders, rising to about a foot in height in the ...
0
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1answer
44 views
Can a Secondary Definition Violate/Negate the First Definition
I have a specific word in mind, but I'd rather not use it to avoid potential bias. I'll edit and post the word if I need to.
Hypothetically, I have a word, "CanHoldWater", defined by Merriam-...
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2answers
50 views
definition and usage for whipsaw?
My understanding of the whipsaw term is that can, according to Wiktionary, be used rhetorically as in these examples:
verb (transitive) To defeat someone in two different ways at once.
2014 November ...
7
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3answers
346 views
What is the difference between fervor and ardor?
I am trying to increase my vocabulary skills and I have a hard time seeing the nuanced differences between these two words. Both have intense passion and enthusiasm as their common dictionary meaning. ...
0
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2answers
29 views
What's the word for “synonyms of a phrase”?
I'm looking for multiple ways to say "Call the Police". When searching the thesaurus, I couldn't find anything. In my head, I can come up with "report to the authorities", or "...
1
vote
4answers
75 views
Free hand: uncountable
Free hand [countable; singular]
Unrestricted freedom or
authority: They gave the director a free hand to cut the budget
wherever she wanted
https://www.wordreference.com/definition/free%20hand
...
7
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1answer
509 views
“turn me into” idiom for hobbies
I have a vague memory of an idiom involving "turn me into" and hobbies, but I can't find it on dictionaries online. Maybe I'm using a wrong word?
"My friend turned me into DJing" ...
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1answer
45 views
“then” used after “but”
THEN adv
Used after but to qualify or balance a preceding statement
Idiom: then again
https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=then
Wiktionary has an entry for but then again as an "...
1
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0answers
15 views
What means share the feelings of another? [closed]
I understand it like having the same feelings (experience the same feelings of another), that's right?
0
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0answers
31 views
Plural affix in the Oxford English Dictionary
I cannot find an entry for the plural affix in the OED (-es, -s , 's, s), unlike say for -en.
Also for -ed we have : -ed, suffix1, -ed, suffix2, -d, -t, suffix1, -t, suffix2, etc.
What are the ...
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2answers
57 views
Is a villian neccesarily evil?
Webster's dictionary gives one definition of villian as somone who opposes the hero giving no qualifications on whether the villian is evil or not. merriam-webster.com
On the other hand, other ...
1
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1answer
55 views
The meaning of “bestatued”
From "The Magus" by John Fowles:
"Beyond that rose the Regency façade, bestatued, many and elegantly windowed, of Cumberland Terrace."
What does "bestatued" mean here?
6
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1answer
1k views
Is the word “psithurism” really used in English?
I have seen people using this word to refer to the sound wind makes as it moves through trees. However,
1. No reputable dictionary seems to have acknowledged this term as a valid english word.
2. ...
0
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1answer
65 views
How is malice different from aggression?
I am having trouble understanding exactly what malice is and how it is different from aggression? In social psychology, aggression (which is contrasted with accidental harm) is defined as intentional ...
1
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0answers
23 views
Italics Usage in Dictionaries
I've only recently realized that the example sentences in many English dictionaries are italicized. And I've yet to find out any other medium that uses italics in examples.
What is the history of ...
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0answers
40 views
Grammatical terms used in the definitions of the Oxford English Dictionary
For example, the entry for the noun "counsel" reads:
(Usually a collective plural, but sometimes treated as a numeral plural; formerly, in ‘to desire the benefit of counsel’, treated as a
...
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1answer
54 views
Why is “pen” of “submarine pen” not in the dictionary?
I saw this word a long time ago while playing red alert https://cnc.fandom.com/wiki/Submarine_pen_(Red_Alert_1) Since then i had forgotten about it, until a watched a youtube video on u-boats https://...
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2answers
67 views
Why are names of proteins not in dictionaries and not considered to be words?
It makes sense to not include unwieldy scientific names in dictionaries, as they would cause dictionaries to swell in size unreasonably. However, I was wondering how and when this decision was made ...
0
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1answer
83 views
unparallleled versus unprecedented
I am looking up these two words and they seem to have the same meaning.
I thought that they mean same.Reading one of each definitions of these below, I undestood they meant same.
unparalleled - ...
0
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0answers
37 views
Conjuring is listed as a noun on Google and Longman but then why does it appear as an adjective in the examples listed at these places?
E.g., on Google, the meaning is: "the performance of tricks which are seemingly magical, typically involving sleight of hand." But the given example is: "a conjuring trick". Similarly, the example in ...
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1answer
55 views
Get around (intransitive): say or do something at last
Get around (intransitive verb): finally to say or do something after
delay, hesitation, or being involved with other things
I wondered when you'd get around to telling me that.
Microsoft® ...
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0answers
40 views
measure of quantity: a hundred of bricks
According to the entry of "hundred" in the OED
Only in measures of quantity, the structure is a hundred of
bricks.
What does measure of quantity mean here, especially as opposed to a hundred ...
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0answers
47 views
Words “transitoriness” and “transientness” not in all dictionaries
I know that many adjectives can be transformed into nouns by adding -ness suffix. Usually, I check if the word is present in a dictionary (preferably Merriam-Webster). This time I was not satisfied ...
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0answers
102 views
What is the difference between a curiosity and having a sexual desire? [closed]
What is the difference between a curiosity and having a sexual desire? Can they be used interchangeably?
From what I understand, "Sexual Desires" are what you get when you "know" what that something ...
12
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7answers
3k views
Is there a term for “non-words” like “ha”, “ugh”, “huh”, etc? [closed]
What would these words be called, and are there any related rules on how to use them and what they each mean?
-1
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2answers
73 views
Why do different dictionaries seem to have different nuances in word definitions?
I always viewed dictionaries as a collection that formalized the definitions of words and phrases. However, I've seen that different dictionaries give different definitions for the same word, which ...
1
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2answers
284 views
Which spelling would be more correct: “Evictor” or “Evicter”?
Both "Evictor" and "Evicter" show up at Lexico.com. The "Evicter" page is much more substantial, though.
At Dictionary.com, "Evictor" is the only accepted spelling.
Google Trends shows that "Evictor"...
0
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1answer
40 views
What we call a dictionary that link positional synonymous words? Is there one already?
I found a dictionary that list words with the same root meaning but different in position, either as subject or object or even predicate, useful.
As an example, when we look for the word "eat", it ...
1
vote
1answer
44 views
Does “stand” have the meaning of “be helpful for”?
"something stands somebody in good stead" is a common idiom, which means "something is helpful for somebody in the present and future".
However, under the entry "stand" in the OXFORD dictionary, ...
2
votes
1answer
66 views
just the concept of evenness and oddness
I have the text in one mathematical book:
It certainly is a huge step beyond just the concept of evenness and oddness, which is all that the Pythagorean proof uses.
Can you explain to me what is "...
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0answers
16 views
Downloadable word lists? [duplicate]
What is the best downloadable US-English word list?
Similar to a dictionary without the definitions.
I've found https://github.com/en-wl/wordlist which is the source list for he English dictionary ...
0
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0answers
45 views
Is “anymore” a word? [duplicate]
Quite often when I type the word "anymore" in software featuring built-in spell check, I get the following kind of warning:
(this one is courtesy of TortoiseGit).
i.e., the "anymore" word gets ...
2
votes
1answer
352 views
Where was the term “A1” first used?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that "A1" means "of the finest quality" and it says that the term was first used in the year 1801 (with no reference):
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/...
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0answers
50 views
by (the) way: incidentally
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. defines incidentally as
by way: used to introduce additional information such as something that the speaker has just thought of
by chance: by chance or by accident
Is the ...
0
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1answer
45 views
Is revolutionist a real word? [closed]
I was talking to a friend of mine and at one point I said
So, you're a revolutionist.
He corrected me (in a very polite way) by saying that "revolutionist" is a word that does not exist, the ...
0
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1answer
48 views
Suffers from -> tends to?
Does "suffer from" have the meaning of "tend to"?
I looked up the Collins dictionary, and found that "suffer from" can mean "given to", which means "tend to".
E.g. A chemical element suffers from ...
1
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1answer
104 views
Inquiries Concerning Context Clues, Syllables, and the Use of the Dictionary [closed]
The following are consists of three questions with the possible choices for each along with my reasoning for each question. I ask of you to provide me assistance in guiding me towards the answer for ...
0
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2answers
135 views
Is there an adverb for “ungodly”?
All dictionaries listed ungodly only as an adjective. Ungodlily was listed on Word Hippo, but I'm not so sure if it's reliable. So, is there an adverb for ungodly, and if so, what is it? Ungodlily ...
1
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1answer
161 views
Capital letter “L” in Oxford English Dictionary entry
I just started Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and am wondering what the “L.” in the first line of the definition for “virus” means. I checked the online Oxford English Dictionary commonly used ...
3
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3answers
536 views
Can you have a conjugal relationship with someone without being married?
I looked up the word "cohabit" and saw these definitions:
cohabit
1.to live together as husband and wife, esp. when not legally married
Webster's New World College Dictionary
cohabit
(...
3
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2answers
1k views
What's the relationship between various Oxford dictionaries? (OED vs ODO vs ODE vs NOAD)
Things I know so far:
The OED is the Oxford English Dictionary. It's widely regarded as the definitive record of the English language.
The ODE is the Oxford Dictionary of English, previously The New ...
0
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2answers
65 views
Can words be removed from language? Are there examples of such?
My research has shown that lexicographers typically look to determine whether a word is currently widely used and whether there is a gap by no alternative being available before it being considered ...
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1answer
48 views
New words invented but how to propagate? [closed]
To write is to invent words, and one invents words from everyday experiences. Today during a long disGussion with a juvenile mind I thought up diaPERtribe, evidently from diatribe and diaper. Is there ...
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1answer
36 views
Bug-out- bag among list of new words [closed]
I was just informed on CBS news that this is now an official word. Is the label 'word' appropriate for a group of words strung together with hyphens, or is there a more accurate term?
1
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1answer
47 views
Confusion in meaning of word “classic”? [closed]
I have searched the meaning of "classic" in Cambridge dictionary, but I am not satisfied about its meaning as adjective
What is difference between terms classic and old? As we often use terms like ...
0
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0answers
64 views
Why don't dictionaries include the most common meaning of the word “punt”? [duplicate]
Why don't dictionaries include what is, in my opinion, the most common meaning of the word "punt", which is to "(strategically) give up"
They punted on the hard problem.
Neither Oxford's, nor M-W ...
1
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3answers
102 views
Word that means every outcome is worse?
What word means that every outcome is worse than where you started,
For example, You must make a choice but the choices are a worse situation than your current one.
11
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3answers
3k views
What was required to accept “troll”?
At what point did the concept of internet troll become incorporated into an English dictionary?
