[.ca] Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus (ISBN 0199230889)

The Ultimate:
I own many dictionaries (including the unabriged OED). This is the one that is on my desk and used every day. It is useful, readable, compact and complete. Combining the best dictionary with an outstanding thesaurus, Oxford has produced the finest reference work of its kind available. Recommended for students, offices and anyone who is tired of juggling four or five reference books in "case you might need them". Clear the decks. This is what you're looking for.

Great value for the money!:
Wnat to buy a dictionary and a theasurus without blowing the bank, i.e., going broke. Then one should buy The Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus: The Ultimate Language Reference for American Readers by Frank R. Abate(Editor). The table of contents is well developed and the choice of font is clear and therefore easy to read. The preface is well written with a scholarly tone that is not to dry or pretentious(which in itself is very hard to accomplish). I like the project staff page as it shows the hard work that was put into the making of this book., The following sections, i.e., how to use this book, detailed explanation of defining sections ,detailed explanation of synonym sections, key to pronounciations and abbreviations used in this book. In the end of the book is a well developed appendix that tackles issues such as eptymology et al. I absolutely loved this dictionary/ thesaurus and when one looks up a word, i.e., equitable; it first gives the meaning, i.e., fair just, and then words that have the same or similair meanings, i.e., fair-minded, square, decent, good to name a few. Defintely worth 28.00 dollars and should be a must have for anyone on a strict budget whom is interested in getting a good dictionary and a theasurus for a good price.

Great money value:
I have to second all other three reviews posted earlier about this huge book . The Oxford Dictionary its probably the best dictionary out there and i believe that if an individual wants to explore words there's no other way then purchasing this trully exceptional book . I had two other dictionaries , but really this tops them all . A strong buy recomendation . 5 stars is all i am giving simply because there's no 6-star rating or higher .

False advertising:
I don't think this book is really "step up from a collegiate dictionary" It's basically a collegiate dictionary combined with a thesaurus. The dictionary section is 1789 pages and has 18 to 30 entries per page. That works out to about 40,000 entries. That's actually somewhat fewer than the typical collegiate dictionary. On the cover, it claims to have "More than 200,000 entries and definitions." It seems to me that this is false advertising. Of course, a dictionary that really had 200,000 entries would take up most of my desk space, so it's probably a good thing that it doesn't really have that many entries.

A WASTE OF MONEY:
This dictionary is missing many words used in America for example : luthier, passel. In fact I am throwing it out and getting going back the American Heritage and a thesaurus!