Choosing a dictionary

Butch Cassidy

How does one choose a dictionary? What points are there to take in to note? Obviously I don't want to buy one that is limited. I mean, I don't know what I might end up needing it for in the future. I might take up crosswords in 10 years time, I might take up writing... I don't know what books I might read.

Recommendations please?

Eliot Rosewater

When I was choosing my dictionary I got a list of 10 difficult word I had encountered in the course of my reading, and went into a book store and checked their definitions in various dictionaries. I judged them on that basis.

I eventually settled for the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. It's a nicely sized tome: it's about as big a dictionary it could be while still preserving some element of drag-around-ability. I've never looked up a word and not found it, and because it's party targeted at professionals there are a lot of scientific and technical terms in it. It's also very good value for a student like me.

As regards crosswords, there are specific dictionaries tailored towards them.

nompere

I keep the Chambers Dictionary beside me at work. I like its quirky nature, and it's the dictionary that crossword setters generally use/recommend and solvers (mostly) find indispensable.

Butch Cassidy

I inherited an Oxford "Handy Dictionary". I was looking for the word "dysmorphia/dysmorphic" and it wasn't there.

Is it in the Oxord concise ?

Eliot Rosewater

Yup! The page in question (dys*) features about 20 medical terms, from dysarthria to dysuria. As I said, the dictionary is targeted at professionals, so there are a lot of scientific and medical words in it.