Abbreviation -- A shortened form of a word or phrase used to represent the    X
whole. Example: Dr is the abbreviation for Doctor.                            X
                                                                              X
Acronym -- A word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of the X
words in a name or phrase. Example: UNESCO for the United Nations             X
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.                            X
                                                                              X
Adjective -- A word used to modify a noun or a pronoun. Example: the blue sky.X
                                                                              X
Adverb -- A word that is used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another      X
adverb. Example: He walks carefully. He is a really skilled cook. She         X
sang very beautifully.                                                        X
                                                                              X
Affix -- A part of a word added to a word base to form a new word.            X
Example: -ed added to want to form wanted, or im- added to possible to form   X
impossible.                                                                   X
                                                                              X
Anagram -- A word, phrase or sentence formed from another by rearranging its  X
letters. Example: angel is an anagram of glean.                               X
                                                                              X
Antonym -- A word with a meaning approximately the opposite to another.       X
Example: Cold is an antonym of hot.                                           X
                                                                              X
Archaic -- A usage label that denotes a word or sense that is no longer in    X
common use, but that may be found in literary works or used to impart a       X
historical colour to contemporary writing. Example: thou                      X
                                                                              X
Comparative -- A word designating an intermediate degree of comparison.       X
Example: Better is the comparative form of good. Greener is the comparative   X
form of green.                                                                X
                                                                              X
Conjunction -- A word that joins words or groups of words.                    X
Example: We shouted, but he couldn't hear us.                                 X
                                                                              X
Derived words -- A word that has undergone derivation from another through    X
process of adding affixes to or changing the shape of a base,                 X
thereby forming a word that may undergo further inflection or participate in  X
different syntactic constructions. Example: as in forming servable from serve.X
                                                                              X
Etymology -- The history or origin of a word or element of a word.            X
Example: samovar [C19: from Russian, from samo- self (related to SAME) +      X
varit' to boil]                                                               X
                                                                              X
Facetious -- A descriptive label used in this dictionary to describe a word   X
used consciously for humorous or playful effect. Example: couth.              X
                                                                              X
Headword -- The first word in each entry of the dictionary.                   X
                                                                              X
Homographs -- Words with identical spellings but different meanings and       X
origins. Example: Paris is both the capital of France and a Trojan prince.    X
                                                                              X
Idiom -- A group of words whose combined meaning is different from the        X
literal meaning of the separate words. Example: To kick the bucket is an      X
idiom meaning to die.                                                         X
                                                                              X
Inflect -- To change the form of a word by adding affixes. Example: as in     X
forming served from serve, sings from sing, or harder from hard.              X
                                                                              X
Informal --  A usage label that applies to words or senses that may be widely X
used, especially in conversation, letter-writing, etc., but that are not      X
common in formal writing. Such words are subject to fewer contextual          X
restrictions than slang words. Example: Get-at-able                           X
                                                                              X
Interjection -- A word that expresses emotion and has no grammatical relation X
to other words in the sentence. Example: My goodness! Gosh! Oh! Ow!           X
                                                                              X
Intransitive verb -- A verb that indicates complete action, not accompanied   X
by an object, and that does not form a passive.                               X
Example: I run. We sat.                                                       X
                                                                              X
Keyword -- In this manual, the word around which a definition search is       X
conducted.                                                                    X
                                                                              X
Lexicography -- The writing, editing or compiling of dictionaries.            X
Not standard -- A usage label that denotes a word or sense that is frequently X
encountered, but widely regarded as incorrect and therefore                   X
avoided by careful writers and speakers. Example: Nohow.                      X
                                                                              X
Noun -- A word used to name a person, place, thing or idea. Example:          X
woman, glass, city, love.                                                     X
                                                                              X
Obsolete -- A usage label that denotes a word or sense that is no longer      X
in use. In specialist or technical the label often implies that the term      X
has been superseded. Example: nice in the sense of foolish or ignorant.       X
                                                                              X
Offensive -- A usage label that denotes a word or sense that might be         X
regarded as offensive by the person described or referred to, even if         X
the speaker uses the word without any malicious intention. Example:           X
deaf-and-dumb.                                                                X
                                                                              X
Part of Speech -- Any of the classes into which words in a language have      X
traditionally been divided on the basis of their meaning, form, or            X
syntactic function. Example: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective,          X
preposition, conjunction, and interjection are parts of speech in the         X
English language.                                                             X
                                                                              X
Participle --  A verb form that is used as an adjective. Example: as          X
burning in a burning candle, or devoted in your devoted friend.               X
                                                                              X
Phrasal verb -- A combination of a verb and an adverb or preposition          X
forming a single unit having an idiomatic meaning not predictable from        X
the meanings of the individual parts. Example: catch on, take off or put      X
up with.                                                                      X
                                                                              X
Pl. or Plural -- Used in this dictionary to mean a plural form of a           X
word, especially when using a non-standard plural form. Plurals are used      X
to indicate that the word refers to more than one. Example: children is       X
the plural of child.                                                          X
                                                                              X
Prefix -- An affix placed before a base or another prefix as un in            X
unkind.                                                                       X
                                                                              X
Preposition -- A word used to show the relation of a noun or pronoun to       X
some other word in the sentence. Example: I'm in the shower. We brought       X
a gift for you.                                                               X
                                                                              X
Primary stress -- A mark after the syllable in a word that should have        X
the greatest emphasis in pronunciation. The symbol ' is used to show          X
primary stress. Example: business (biz'nis).                                  X
                                                                              X
Pronoun -- A word used in place of one or more nouns or pronouns.             X
Example: she replaces Sabrina.                                                X
                                                                              X
Pronunciation -- The way of pronouncing a word or syllable.                   X
                                                                              X
Pronunciation notes -- Notes in this dictionary on how a word should be       X
pronounced.                                                                   X
                                                                              X
Secondary stress --  A mark after the syllable in a word that should have     X
slightly less emphasis in pronunciation than the primary stress, but          X
more stress than an unmarked syllable. The symbol  is used to show           X
secondary stress. Example: Photographic (ft'grfk).                      X
                                                                              X
Slang -- A usage label that denotes words or senses that are racy or          X
extremely informal. The appropriate contexts in which slang is used are       X
restricted, for example, to members of a particular social group or           X
those engaged in a particular activity. Slang words are inappropriate in      X
a formal speech or writing. Example: pony (25) hooligan                      X
                                                                              X
Subject label -- A usage note identifying words that refer to a               X
particular subject. Example: "out" in the sense of "not succeeding in         X
getting on base" would have the subject label Baseball.                       X
                                                                              X
Suffix -- An affix that follows the element to which it is added.             X
Example: ly in kindly.                                                        X
                                                                              X
Superlative -- A word designating the highest degree of comparison of         X
adjectives and adverbs. Example: Best is the superlative form of good.        X
Greenest is the superlative form of green.                                    X
                                                                              X
Synonym -- A word with a close meaning to another. Example: Chortle is a      X
synonym for laugh.                                                            X
                                                                              X
Tense -- A category of verbs or verbal inflections serving chiefly to         X
specify the time of the action or state expressed by the verb.                X
Example:A past tense verb like jumped, or a future tense verb like will jump. X
                                                                              X
Taboo --  This label applies to words that are not acceptable in polite       X
use. The user is advised to avoid the use of such words if he or she          X
wishes to be sure of avoiding social disapproval.                             X
                                                                              X
Transitive verb -- A verb accompanied by a direct object and that forms       X
a passive. Example: I deny it. You elected him. (Passive voice example:       X
He was elected by you.)                                                       X
                                                                              X
Usage notes -- Notes in this dictionary on how a word is used and its         X
appropriateness in particular situations.                                     X
Variant spellings -- Alternative correct spellings for a word.                X
Example: customize may also be correctly spelled customise.                   X
                                                                              X
Verb -- A word that expresses action or a state of being.                     X
Example: think, know, blow, hit, run.                                         X
                                                                              X
Wildcard -- A search feature in this dictionary that allows one to            X
represent a single letter or a series of letters in a search pattern by       X
substituting the wildcard ? or *, respectively.                               X
X

