Collins Dictionaries - Collins First Dictionary

Contents

Cover

Title Page

How to find a word in this dictionary How to find a word in this dictionary Think of the first letter in the word you want to look up. Once you know this, there is more than one way to find your word in the dictionary: • You can use the Index at the back of the ebook which lists all of the dictionary words in alphabetical order. Scroll through the Index until you find the letter your word begins with, then look down the words until you find the one you are looking for. You can then follow the link to the entry in the dictionary. • You can use the Contents page at the front of the book, which has a link to every letter in the dictionary. Follow the link to the letter your word begins with, then look through the entries in this letter until you find the word you are looking for. The entries are in alphabetical order. Features of this dictionary 1. You can check how to spell words. 2. You can see how the word changes when it is used in different ways. 3. You can see what the word means. 4. You can see how the word is used in a sentence. 5. You can see if a word has more than one meaning. 6. You can see if a word is a noun, verb or adjective. Some words can be used in more than one way.

Features of this dictionary Features of this dictionary 1. You can check how to spell words. 2. You can see how the word changes when it is used in different ways. 3. You can see what the word means. 4. You can see how the word is used in a sentence. 5. You can see if a word has more than one meaning. 6. You can see if a word is a noun, verb or adjective. Some words can be used in more than one way.

How words work

Aa

Bb

Cc

Dd

Ee

Ff

Gg

Hh

Ii

Jj

Kk

Ll

Mm

Nn

Oo

Pp

Qq

Rr

Ss

Tt

Uu

Vv

Ww

Xx

Yy

Zz

Index

Copyright

About the Publisher

How to find a word in this dictionary

Think of the first letter in the word you want to look up. Once you know this, there is more than one way to find your word in the dictionary:

• You can use the Indexat the back of the ebook which lists all of the dictionary words in alphabetical order. Scroll through the Index until you find the letter your word begins with, then look down the words until you find the one you are looking for. You can then follow the link to the entry in the dictionary.

• You can use the Contentspage at the front of the book, which has a link to every letter in the dictionary. Follow the link to the letter your word begins with, then look through the entries in this letter until you find the word you are looking for. The entries are in alphabetical order.

Features of this dictionary

1. You can check how to spell words.

2. You can see how the word changes when it is used in different ways.

3. You can see what the word means.

4. You can see how the word is used in a sentence.

5. You can see if a word has more than one meaning.

6. You can see if a word is a noun, verb or adjective. Some words can be used in more than one way.

How words work

Nouns

A noun is a word that is used for talking about a person or thing.

arm noun

bird noun

car noun

If you have more than one of the thing, you use the word that ends in –S.

arms

Some words have special endings, or different spellings, when there is more than one.

child ➔ children

Adjectives

An adjective is a word like “big” or “beautiful” that tells you more about a person or thing.

happy adjective

wild adjective

wet adjective

Adjectives can be used in different ways.

happier, happiest

wilder, wildest

wetter, wettest

Verbs

A verb is a word like “sing”, “feel” or “eat” that you use for saying what someone or something does.

eat verb

cry verb

talk verb

Verbs can be used in different ways.

eats, eating, ate, eaten

cries, crying, cried

talks, talking, talked

Verbs can be used to talk about things that you are doing now.

He teaches people how to play the piano.

He is in the school football team.

They can be used to talk about things that you did in the past.

She took the plates into the kitchen.

She talked to him on the phone.

They can also be used to talk about things that you will do in the future.

Mum will be angry.

Our teacher will give the prizes to the winners.

We’ll come along later.

Tips to help you become a super speller!

When you have found a word you need in the dictionary, try to learn how to spell it using the “Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check” strategy:

Explore further at www.collins.co.uk/homeworkhelpfor games, activities and extra support for parents and children.

Aa

abacus noun abacuses

An abacus is a frame with beads that move along pieces of wire. It is used for counting.

able adjective

If you are able to do something, you know how to do it.

She is able to swim.

about

1 About means to do with.

This book is about history.

2 About also means near to something.

His grandfather is about 80 years old.

above

If something is above another thing, it is over it or higher than it.

Lift the ball above your head.

accident noun accidents

1 An accident is something nasty that happens, and that hurts someone.

He broke his leg in a car accident.

2 If something happens by accident, you do not expect it to happen.

I dropped a cup by accident.

ache verb aches, aching, ached

If a part of your body aches, you feel a steady pain there.

My leg aches a lot.

acorn noun acorns

An acorn is the seed of an oak tree.

across

If someone goes across a place, they go from one side of it to the other.

She walked across the road.

act verb acts, acting, acted