Book Description
Produced by Oxford's American Dictionaries Program, and drawing on the expertise of scores of American scholars and advisors, The New Oxford American Dictionary sets the standard of excellence for lexicography in this country. Here is the most accurate and richly descriptive picture of American English ever offered in any dictionary. Oxford's American editors drew on our 200-million-word databank of contemporary North American English, plus the unrivaled citation files of the world-renowned Oxford English Dictionary. We started with American evidence--an unparalleled resource unique to Oxford. Our staff logged more than 50 editor-years, checking every entry and every definition. Oxford's ongoing North American Reading Program, begun in the early 1980s, keeps our lexicographers in touch with fresh evidence of our language and usage--in novels and newspapers, in public records and magazines, and on-line, too. To provide unprecedented clarity, the entries are organized around core meanings, reflecting the way people think about words and eliminating the clutter and confusion of a traditional dictionary entry. Each entry plainly shows the major meaning or meanings of the word, plus any related senses, arranged in intuitive constellations of connected meanings. Definitions are supplemented by illustrative, in-context examples of actual usage. This major new edition of The New Oxford American Dictionary includes a guide to the pronunciations on every page, a new etymology essay by Anatoly Liberman, completely updated and revised maps, and more than a thousand new entries, covering everything new in our language from low-carb to warblog and beyond. This edition of The New Oxford American Dictionary also includes a lexicographical first--a portable version of the entire dictionary that can be downloaded to your PDA or smartphone! Have the authority of The New Oxford American Dictionary at your fingertips, wherever you are. Keep the print edition by your favorite reading chair and download the portable version to your phone or PDA, and you'll never be at a loss for words. The New Oxford American Dictionary is designed to serve the user clearly, simply, and quickly, with the precise guidance you expect from Oxford University Press. With in-depth and up-to-date coverage that all users need and expect--for reading and study, for technical terms, for language guidance--it continues the tradition of scholarship and lexicographic excellence that are the hallmarks of every Oxford dictionary.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: Even better than the first edition, May 4, 2005 Reviewer: M. Sternberg "saksalainen" (Downers Grove, IL United States) - See all my reviews    This is a review of the second edition of the dictionary. Naturally, it has been revised substantially by adding or updating entries and usage notes. This is well described by the publisher and other reviews. A key new feature called "The Right Word" are valuable synonym study boxes discussing subtle differences in meaning, e.g., "definite" vs. "definitive". The typography has been completely overhauled. The change is definitely for the better, although this may sound surprising given the richness and complexity in the first edition. Word functions, usage levels, examples, etc., are again set in distinct fonts, yet they harmonize here much better than before. I especially like the new italic face frequently seen in the numerous and illuminating examples. Phrases are explicitly set off from the main entry yet at equal weight. Etymologies and derivatives follow tightly at the very end but are still clearly recognizable. The appendix has also received some attention and is now much more appropriate for a dictionary. The various "Hall of Fame" lists from the first edition have rightly been dropped in favor of informative and relevant language aids covering grammar, style, spelling, capitalization and punctuation. This part also includes several interesting lists of commonly mis-spelled words, clichés to avoid, and redundant expressions. This is the best desk dictionary of contemporary American English. Was this review helpful to you?  (Report this)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful: even better than the first edition, April 22, 2005 Reviewer: Anna Twelve "Anna 1212" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews I knew I would like this new edition, but I didn't know how much! The Oxford American Dictionary is the best new dictionary of American English out there. It seems counterintuitive that OXFORD would make a great AMERICAN dictionary, but they really have more coverage than the other dictionaries I have (and I have a lot of dictionaries!). The new edition has so much more material, including a really great new essay on etymology and new synonym studies. I personally like the new page layout much better. The old one was very "dance-y" and distracting -- too much going on. This one is much simpler and flows better. I had no trouble finding the phrases (they begin with a dark triangle and the word PHRASES in bold type, so they're hard to miss!). The eytmologies start with an open triangle, but they always come near the end of the entry so I don't see how they're difficult to find, either. The font they use for the pronunciations is easier to read, as well, and they now have the key on every right-hand page. And this new edition has a CD inside the book that lets you load the ENTIRE DICTIONARY on your smartphone or Blackberry or Treo! If using a dictionary makes you cranky, you owe it to yourself to get this one and never feel cranky about looking something up again. It is the most usable, best-laid-out, most comprehensive dictionary I've seen yet. Was this review helpful to you?  (Report this)

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful: Sad changes to typography., April 9, 2005 Reviewer: BaK (CT USA) - See all my reviews All of the wonderful typography of the earlier edition has been removed. It is no longer easy to pick out the etymology or even the phrases, both of which are/were important features of this dictionary. Sad choices on the part of whoever made these decisions. Was this review helpful to you?  (Report this)

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