The Oxford Paperback Dictionary

Now fully revised for its fourth edition, this is the most up-to-date and easy-to-use dictionary available in paperback. As well as clear definitions of everyday vocabulary, with helpful examples, there are encyclopedic entries for famous people, places and institutions. Selling over 1.5 million copies since it was first published, the dictionary contains over 60,000 entries (5,000 new to this edition), 74,000 definitions, and 4,000 encyclopedic entries. It also provides helpful usage notes with guidance on correct English and indicates difficult pronunciations through a simple system of respelling. Famous people covered in this new edition range from Bill Clinton and Desmond Tutu to Stephen Hawking, Steffi Graf, and Madonna; and with a lively new vocabulary covering such terms as bail bandit, hotting, love handle, and negative equity, The Oxford Paperback Dictionary is truly the most readable, reliable, and contemporary dictionary of its kind. New words include: awesome, cook chill, couch potato, crusty, gene therepy, gobsmacked, human shield, internal market, keyhole surgery, off-roading, ozone hole, pit bull terrier, ram-raider, spin doctor, and stonker. Famous people covered include: Maya Angelou, Kenneth Branagh, Clint Eastwood, Vaclav Havel, Michael Jackson, Carl Lewis, Robert Maxwell, Luciano Pavarotti, Salman Rushdie, Meryl Streep, Alice Walker, and Boris Yeltsin.