Children's Illustrated Dictionary [antikvár]

Introduction Have you ever played the game in which you try to describe something in words only - without using any gestures - and other people have to work out what you are describing? How would you describe a horse or a television? This dictionary describes a horse as follows: 'a big, four-legged animal with hooves, a long mane and a tail, which can be used for riding or for pulling things like carts and ploughs'. The television is described as 'a box-shaped instrument that receives programmes that have been broadcast, and shows them on a screen as moving pictures with sound'. That is exactly what a dictionary does. It tells us what words mean. A good dictionary should describe things well by being clear and concise. If a word has two or more meanings, it should tell us. 'Post', for example, has two quite different meanings: firstly, mail (letters, parcels etc.) and secondly, a pole, like a telegraph pole. The noun 'bear' is an animal but the verb means 'to carry or support'. A good dictionary has certain other features: It tells you how words are spelled ('accommodation' has two 'c's and two 'm's). It tells you how awkward words are pronounced ('gnome', 'handkerchief, 'scythe', 'qualm', 'typhoon', for example). It tells you what the part of speech is. Is it a noun, verb, adjective or adverb? This is useful. For instance, the noun 'object' meaning 'a thing' is pronounced 'ob-ject' but the verb, meaning 'to protest' is pronounced 'ob-ject'. It provides example sentences or phrases to help you understand how a word should be used. For instance: 'This is just (exactly) the colour I'm looking for' and 'There's just about (almost not) enough to eat.' To be really useful, a dictionary must be up-to-date. New words enter the language and old words may die or acquire a new meaning. If you looked at a dictionary that is only a few years old, you probably would not find the second definition of 'mouse': 'a small device on your desk that you move on the surface with your hand to control the position of the cursor on a computer screen'. And the word 'cursor' in the definition would probably not be in the dictionary. This dictionary has some other features that make it rather special: • It is superbly illustrated with photographs, diagrams and drawings that complement the definitions and add more visual information. • Special notice-board panels provide fascinating facts on such things as word histories, spelling, grammar and homophones plus much general information associated with a particular word. We hope you will find this dictionary both useful and interesting. How would you describe it - without using gestures? ]ohn Grisewood, Neil Morris, Ting Morris