dictionary
part of speech
noun (a dictionary, dictionaries)
meaning for a pupil
1) A dictionary is a book or website that lists words in alphabetical order and tells you what they mean, how to spell and say them. tree →
2) A book that gives the words of one language in another language, like an English–French dictionary. tree →
3) (computing) A list of names paired with values in a computer program. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used every day in school for spelling and meaning. Phrases: «look it up in the dictionary», «a picture dictionary», «a bilingual dictionary», «online dictionary». It tells the reader where to find out about words.
examples
- Frey in his dictionary gives ChHM as the plural word, lives, or vitae. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- This passage is explained by Isaac Satanow in his Hebrew Dictionary entitled Sephath Emeth, p. 44, b: (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →
- Bible dictionaries generally give the word as Cherubim, but in Hebrew the initial letter is always K and not Ch. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1893) tree →
- Look up «enormous» in the dictionary. tree →
- Our teacher keeps a big dictionary on her desk. tree →
- I used an online dictionary to check the spelling. tree →
- She bought a French dictionary for her holiday. tree →
- Words in a dictionary are in alphabetical order. tree →
- The dictionary says «colour» is spelled «color» in the US. tree →
- My little brother has a picture dictionary. tree →
- The youth who knew the dictionary and newspaper by heart had a black horse, and he who knew all about the corporation laws received a milk-white steed. tree →
note
Plural: dictionaries (y changes to ies). Alphabetical order trap: words are sorted letter by letter, so «cat» comes before «catch». A thesaurus is different: it gives words with similar meanings. Spelling: dic-tion-ar-y.
In the corpora
- A dictionary gives spelling and meaning; spellcheck is quick but may suggest the wrong word, so read the suggestion.
- When context is not enough, a dictionary settles it.
- English has no official academy; French has the Académie Française; dictionaries and style guides record how people write.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «dictionary» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.