Which is the best english-english dictionary for advanced learners ?

Question

based on user-friendliness and number of words.Now I'm using an Oxford advanced learner's dictionary and it works well.I think the best should be one of these: Oxford,Macmillan,Longman,Webster.Which has more words ?

Answer 1

It all depends on the version of the dictionary. Merriam-Webster prints all kinds of dictionaries, some of which contain relatively few words.

According to the Oxford Dictionary site:

The full Oxford English Dictionary is the largest record of words used in English, past and present. It contains words that are now obsolete or rare (such as xenagogue 'a person who guides strangers' and vicine 'neighbouring or adjacent') in addition to the latest coinages such as bling and podcasting.

The second edition of the OED, published in 1989 and consisting of twenty volumes, contains more than 615,000 entries, and the third, available online, is expanding all the time, with batches of 2,500 new and revised words and phrases being added in regular quarterly updates.

http://www.askoxford.com/oec/mainpage/oe...

This is, however, hardly a user-friendly dictionary.

For usefulness, I like the online dictionaries:

http://dictionary.reference.com/

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

If you are happy with the Oxford advanced learner's dictionary that you have, go ahead and use it.

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