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English / Study / Dictionaries
Find a British English dictionary
     
Sections:
Introduction
English Textbooks (c) ukstudentlife.com
  Book (printed dictionary)
  CD (dictionary for a computer)
  Electronic (hand-held electronic dictionary or translator)
  Online (dictionary or translation tool on the internet)
  Links
   
Related pages:
Bookshops
  Grammar
  Spelling
  Vocabulary
  Pronunciation
  Mistakes



INTRODUCTION

This section will help you to buy an English dictionary.

Buy dictionaries or translators:
English/English dictionary ; English/other language dictionary ; Electronic dictionary

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BOOK

Printed English/English dictionaries

Printed dictionaries are easy to carry with you, are easy to read and are cheap.
However, they are relatively slow to use, may be heavy or bulky, may not contain new words, and require you to know the International Phonetic Alphabet to understand how words are pronounced (if the dictionaries include phonetic information).

(1) Elementary level

Oxford Essential Dictionary
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: July 2006
1901659968
Basic English Dictionary
Publisher: Peter Collin Publishing
Date: October 2001

(2) Intermediate level

0194315169
The Oxford Wordpower Dictionary
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: Mar 2006
Collins Cobuild Learner's Dictionary
Publisher: Collins Cobuild
Date: January 2003

(3) Advanced level

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: February 2005
Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
Publisher: Collins Cobuild
Date: January 2006

(4) Native speakers

Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (books+CD)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: September 2007
Oxford Dictionary of English
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: August 2005

Illustrated dictionary

Illustrated Oxford Dictionary
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Date: June 2003
Oxford Junior Illustrated Dictionary
Author: Sheila Dignen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: May 2007

Dictionary of slang

Brit Slang
Author: Ray Puxley
Publisher: Robson Books
Date: April 2003
The Cassell Dictionary of Slang
Author: Jonathon Green
Publisher: Cassell Reference
Date: November 2005
NTC's Super-mini British Slang Dictionary
Author: Ewart James
Publisher: Contemporary Books
Date: October 2000
   

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CD

Electronic English/English Dictionaries on CD (compact disc)

Electronic versions of dictionaries provide useful added features not available from printed dictionaries; for example, they allow you to look up words much more quickly, and they allow you to hear the pronunciations of words.
However, they are more expensive than printed dictionaries and you can only use them when you have a computer with you.

Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
(includes CD-ROM)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date: March 2005
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
(includes CD-ROM)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: April 2008

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ELECTRONIC

Hand-held electronic dictionaries or translators

Hand-held dictionaries are convenient, as they can be carried with you wherever you go. Some of these will allow you to hear how a word is pronounced (although in most cases American English pronunciations will be used). On the negative side, hand-held translators can be quite expensive, and they can be lost or stolen.

Choose your language for information:

Albanian ; Arabic ; Bulgarian ; Chinese ; Croatian ; Czech ; Danish ; Dutch ; English ; Estonian ; Farsi ; Finnish ; French ; German ; Greek ; Hebrew ; Hindi ; Hungarian ; Italian ; Japanese ; Korean ; Latin ; Latvian ; Lithuanian ; Norwegian ; Polish ; Portuguese ; Romanian ; Russian ; Serbian ; Slovak ; Slovenian ; Spanish ; Swedish ; Turkish ; Ukrainian ; Vietnamese ; Yiddish

DMQ1870 Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus
Manufacturer: Franklin Covey
PWE300 Electronic Dictionary & Thesaurus
Manufacturer: Sharp
ER6100 Concise Oxford English Dictionary / Thesaurus
Manufacturer: Seiko
   

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ONLINE (INTERNET)

Online translation tools

For free online tools which allow you to translate words, paragraphs or complete web pages using automatic translation software, see: Translate.
Note that because the translations are automatic there may be mistakes in the translation. The best translations to/from English will be for languages which are similar to English (for example: French, Spanish or Italian).

Online English/English dictionaries

Web dictionaries allow you to look up words while you are surfing the internet; you may have to pay a regular subscription fee, but (unlike books or CDs) the dictionary is automatically kept up-to-date. However, you have to pay for your normal internet connection and there may be a charge each year that you use the service.

For free basic online English-English dictionaries, see: Dictionary

Online English/non-English and specialist dictionaries

To find an online dictionary between English and your language, see: Translate.
Alternatively, see: http://www.dictionary.com or http://www.yourdictionary.com

Online dictionaries of slang

There is an online dictionary of British slang at: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang.
For an explanation of slang expressions used in the London area, see: http://www.londonslang.com.

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LINKS

Online English/English dictionary: Dictionary
Automatic (machine) translations: Translate
English exams: English/Exams
Wordplay: Ideas/Fun

Home page: Home

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