From School Library Journal

The Dictionary and Thesaurus is a valuable, easy-to-use update with 75,000 definitions, including 2000 new words such as webcast and digital camera. The dictionary provides meaning, spelling, pronunciation, synonyms, and etymology as well as temporal, regional, and stylistic usage. Words are presented in two columns with spot black-and-white illustrations scattered throughout. Entries indicate slang, dialect, and offensive or disparaging usage and include cross-referencing. Definitions are clear and concise. The volume also includes sections devoted to common foreign words and phrases, people, and places. The biographical entries are generally one line and occasionally sacrifice import to brevity. The geographical listings include latest population figures. Segments on English grammar and word roots will be particularly helpful to second-language learners and students preparing for the SAT, as will the listings of confused and misused words. Finally, a 48-page full-color world atlas divides the dictionary from the alphabetical thesaurus of 30,000 entries. This section, which includes synonyms, related words, near antonyms, and antonyms, should satisfy students and writers. The stand-alone Dictionary is an identical work, minus the atlas and thesaurus. Some readers may prefer the convenience of The American Heritage Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus (Houghton, 2005), which has a split-page format–the upper half a dictionary, the bottom, a thesaurus. Still, with only 70,000 entries, it lacks many of the extras contained in Webster's update and has smaller print.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　–Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools

Book News Annotation:

This reference contains 75,000 definitions, foreign words, biographical and geographical names, word roots, misused words, a 48-page color atlas of the world, and a thesaurus of 30,000 main entries. The maps are the contribution of Encyclopaedia Britannica; the dictionary and thesaurus are from the editors of Merriam-Webster. This is a good reference for those who are not interested in etymology and earliest known use.

Book Dimension:

length: (cm)24.2 　　　 　　 　　　　　 　 width:(cm)21.7