Collins Dictionaries: Collins English Dictionary and Thesaurus Essential

Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus, Essential Edition

eBook edition © 2021 Intangible Press, LLC

ISBN 978-1-62053-168-6

www.intangiblepress.com

HarperCollins PublishersWesterhill Road Bishopbriggs Glasgow G64 2QT Great Britain

Paperback Sixth Edition 2020, Essential Second Edition 2020

© HarperCollins Publishers 2011, 2015, 2016, 2020

English lemmatized lists © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means–electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise–without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Entered words that we have reason to believe constitute trademarks have been designated as such. However, neither the presence nor absence of such designation should be regarded as affecting the legal status of any trademark.

AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank those authors and publishers who kindly gave permission for copyright material to be used in the Collins Corpus. We would also like to thank Times Newspapers Ltd for providing valuable data.

To search for a word in the dictionary & thesaurus, tap on your app's search icon (typically a magnifying glass), then type in a word. The most relevant results will be found in the Search Index Search Index A-Z To search for a word in the dictionary & thesaurus, tap on your app's search icon (typically a magnifying glass ), then type in a word. Alternatively, you may use this section to browse the dictionary. , an alphabetical list of hyperlinks to all main entry words in the dictionary. It is placed at the start of the ebook so the search will find relevant results here first; later search results may be less useful, as they typically include every occurrence of the word in the ebook.

If your e-reading app does not have a search feature, we recommend browsing the dictionary & thesaurus instead. To do this, go to the Table of Contents and select Search Index A-Z Search Index A-Z To search for a word in the dictionary & thesaurus, tap on your app's search icon (typically a magnifying glass ), then type in a word. Alternatively, you may use this section to browse the dictionary. . Select a letter, then select the link to the appropriate range of words. Scroll until you find the desired word, then tap on the hyperlink.

Main entry wordsare printed in large bold type, eg

abbey

All main entry words, including abbreviations and combining forms, in one alphabetical sequence, eg

abbot

abbreviate

ABC 1

ABC 2

abdicate

Variant spellingsare shown in full:

adrenalin or adrenaline

Note : where the spellings -izeand -izationare used at the end of a word, the alternative forms -iseand -isationare equally acceptable.

Pronunciationsare given in brackets for words that are difficult or confusing; the word is respelt as it is pronounced, with the stressed syllable in bold type, eg

antipodes (an- tip-pod-deez)

Parts of speechare shown in italics as an abbreviation, eg

ablaze adj

When a word can be used as more than one part of speech, the change of part of speech is shown after an arrow, eg

adept adj proficient in something requiring skill… ▸ n a person skilled in something

Parts of speech may be combined for words, eg

awash adv, adj washed over by water

Irregular partsor confusing forms of verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs are shown in bold type, eg

begin vb-ginning, -gan, -gun

regret vb-gretting, -gretted

anniversary n , pl-ries

angry adj-grier, -griest

well 1 advbetter, best

Meaningsare separated by numbers, eg

absorb vb1to soak up a liquid ◇ SYNONYMS: soak up, suck up, receive, digest, imbibe 2to engage the interest of someone ◇ SYNONYMS: engross, involve, engage, fascinate, rivet, captivate 3to receive the force of an impact…

Phrases and idiomsare included in the meanings of the main entry word, eg

hand … 22keep one's hand into continue to practise something 23(near) at handvery close 24on handclose by; available

Related wordsare shown on a separate line and preceded by a > symbol, eg

absurd adj obviously senseless or illogical; ridiculous ◇ SYNONYMS: ridiculous, crazy ( informal ), silly, foolish, ludicrous, unreasonable, irrational, senseless > absurdity n > absurdly adv

Note : where the meaning of a related word is not given, it may be understood from the main entry word, or from another related word.

Usage labelsgive information about, for example, the country or subject field in which a word is used, or how formal or informal it is, eg

avocation n1( Brit & Austral & NZold-fashioned ) a person's regular job 2( formal ) a hobby

Alternativesare given in roman and preceded by a ◇ symbol and the word SYNONYMS, eg

actually adv as an actual fact; really ◇ SYNONYMS: really, in fact, indeed, truly, literally, genuinely, in reality, in truth

Sense numbers

Alternatives for a particular sense of an entry are shown on a separate line immediately following the definition, eg

collide vb-liding, -lided1to crash together violently ◇ SYNONYMS: crash, clash, meet head-on, come into collision 2to conflict or disagree ◇ SYNONYMS: conflict, clash, be incompatible, be at variance

Where the alternatives relate to all senses of an entry, they are shown in each sense, eg

laden adj1loaded ◇ SYNONYMS: loaded, burdened, full, charged, weighed down, encumbered 2burdened ◇ SYNONYMS: loaded, burdened, full, charged, weighed down, encumbered

Usage labelsgive information about, for example, the region in which a word or phrase is used, or how formal or informal it is, eg

leader n1a person who rules, guides, or inspires others; head ◇ SYNONYMS: principal, president, head, chief, boss ( informal ), director, manager, chairperson, sherang ( Austral & NZ )

To search for a word in the dictionary & thesaurus, tap on your app's search icon (typically a magnifying glass), then type in a word.