How to Use a DictionaryHow to Use a Thesaurus

48 Fun Activities for Students

Learning Dictionary and Thesaurus Skills

Mary Wood Cornog, Ph.D. and The Editors of Merriam-Webster

A Division of Merriam-Webster, IncorporatedSpringfield, Massachusetts

Copyright © by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Federal Street Press is a trademark of Federal Street Press, a division of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

All rights reserved.

Limited Reproduction Permission. Permission to reproduce these materials islimited to the person for whom they are purchased. Reproduction of any part ofthis book for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited.

This 2003 edition published byFederal Street PressA Division of Merriam-Webster, IncorporatedP.O. Box 281Springfield, MA 01102

Federal Street Press books are available for bulk purchase for sales promotionand premium use. For details write the manager of special sales, Federal StreetPress, P.O. Box 281, Springfield, MA 01102

ISBN 1-978-892859-46-4

Text design by Joyce C. Weston

Printed in the United States of America

03 04 05 06 07 5 4 3 2 1

ii

Contents

Preface iv

Using This Book iv

How to Use a Dictionary 11. Alphabetical Order—Getting

Started 32. Alphabetical Order—Moving

Along 53. Guide Words 74. End-of-Line Divisions 95. Pronunciation 116. More About Pronunciation 137. Still More About Pronunciation 158. Variants 179. Functional Labels 19

10. Homographs 2111. Inflected Forms 2312. Usage Labels 2513. Definitions—Meaning 2714. Definitions—Historical Order 2915. Synonyms and Cross-references 3116. Verbal Illustrations 3317. Usage Notes 3518. Undefined Entries 3719. Synonym Paragraphs 3920. Phrases 4121. Word History Paragraphs 43

How to Use a Thesaurus 4522. What Is a Thesaurus? 4723. Meaning Cores and Verbal

Illustrations 49 24. Synonyms and Related Words 51 25. Idioms 5326. Antonyms and Contrasted

Words 55

Answer Key 57

iii

Using This BookThis book consists of 26 lessons, each ona removable perforated page, followed byan answer key, which is also perforated.Teachers and parents can use the book inone of two ways. Lessons can beremoved from the book and given to thestudents individually, or the answer keycan be removed and students can begiven the entire book.

Each lesson consists of explanatorytext, illustrative examples from thedictionary or thesaurus, and exercises.The exercises are intended to reinforcethe explanations. Students should read

the text portion of each lesson carefullybefore doing the exercises.

This book aims to provide a thoroughand comprehensive introduction to usinga dictionary and thesaurus. If students,teachers, or parents have questions thathave not been covered, however, theyshould consult the explanatory notesprinted in the front of both the dictionaryand thesaurus.

Many of the exercises in this bookrequire that students look words up inthe dictionary. The answers in the answerkey were arrived at using Webster’s NewExplorer Student Dictionary (published byFederal Street Press in cooperation withthe editors of Merriam-Webster).

PrefaceOpen a dictionary to any page. What doyou see? One thing you’ll probably noticeright away is that some words are printedin heavy boldface type. Other words areprinted in all capital letters (like this:instance), and some parts of each dic-tionary entry are printed in slanted italictype. You’ll see slash marks with strangecharacters between them (\ig-Çzam-p´l\), funny dots in the middleof words (di·vi·sion), and sections ofwords marked off by pointed brackets,like these < >. You’ll see numbers andcolons (:). You’ll see pictures.

This can all be a bit confusing,especially if you are new to usingdictionaries. But don’t worry. The purposeof this book is to make you familiar withthese different parts of the dictionary. Bythe time you have finished the lessons, allthe funny-looking characters and printtypes on the dictionary page will make

sense to you, and you’ll be able to usethe dictionary as an effective tool in yourschoolwork.

Thesauruses are similar to dictionariesin some ways and different in others.Thesauruses consist mostly of lists ofwords. You can use a thesaurus to find aword that fits a particular situation(though you should always check a gooddictionary before using a word that isnew to you). In the thesaurus section ofthis book, we’ll talk about the features ofa typical thesaurus entry so you will befamiliar with them as well.

It can sometimes be frustrating toencounter words you don’t know themeaning of, or to want to say somethingand not know the right words to use.When used effectively, dictionaries andthesauruses can remove frustration byincreasing your knowledge. They areuseful tools that can open up a world ofmeaning and help make you a betterreader, writer, and speaker.

So let’s get started!

iv

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Your name _________________________________________

© 2003 Federal Street Press

Alphabetical Order—Getting Started

Test Your Alphabet SkillsPut each series of words in the correct alphabetical order.

1. cat, mouse, dog, horse, pig

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

2. sled, jaunt, lyric, umbrella, TV

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

3. vitamin, acrobat, lazy, octopus, noodle

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

Scan your eyes down the columns onyour dictionary page and you’ll see thateach of the dictionary entries beginswith a boldface word that sticks out intothe margin just a little to catch the eye.This boldface word is called the entryword or main entry.

aback \´-Çbak\ adv : by surprise <takenaback by the change in plan>

aba·cus \Çab-´-k´s\ n, pl aba·ci\Çab-´-Ésà\ or aba·cus·es : an instru-ment for doing arithmetic by slidingcounters along rods or in grooves

abaft \´-Çbaft\ adv : toward or at theback part of a ship

ab·a·lo·ne \Éab- -Çlã-ná\ n : a large seasnail that has a flattened shell with apearly lining

One of the most important things tounderstand about a dictionary is that allof the main entries are arranged in alpha-

betical order. We call this alphabetiza-tion. To use a dictionary effectively, you’llneed to become very familiar with alpha-betization. It can take some practice, butonce you get good at it, you’ll be able tolocate the words you are looking for withease.

The basic concept of alphabetical orderis simple. Since a comes before b and bcomes before c in the alphabet, all of thewords beginning with a come beforethose that begin with b, the b wordscome before the c words, and so on allthe way through the dictionary.

ab·sence \Çab-s´ns\ n 1 : a beingaway…

bank·er \Çbang-k´r\ n : a person who…

cal·li·ope \k´-Çlà- -pá\ n : a keyboard…

de·light·ful \di-Çlàt-f l\ adj : givingdelight…

en·ter·tain \ É e n t -´r-ÇtÜn\ v b 1 : to greet…

Alphabetical order also applies withineach group of words that share the samefirst letter. This means that all of thewords with the same first letter are thensorted by their second letter.

ear·ring \Çir-Éring\n : an ornamentworn…

ed·i·ble \Çed-´-b´l\ adj : fit or safe toeat

enig·ma \i-Çnig-m´\ n : somethinghard…

4

Your name _________________________________________

© 2003 Federal Street Press

Test Your Alphabet SkillsPut each series of words in the correct alphabetical order.

1. chop, chalk, chili, cheese, chute

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

2. cannon, capstan, capacious, canopy, capable

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

3. dragonfly, dragnet, dragoon, draggle, dragon

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

Test Your Alphabet SkillsPut each series of words in the correct alphabetical order.

1. bad, broccoli, bike, boy, blouse

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

2. sunny, share, seven, snap, store

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

3. ivy, industry, ignition, icy, irk

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

Those words with the same first and sec-ond letters are then sorted according totheir third letter. Wo rds with the samefirst, second, and third letter are sort e da c c o rding to their fourth letter, and so on.

fig \Çfig\ n : an edible fruit that isoblong…

fire·plug \Çfàr-Éplg\ n : HYDRANTfirst·hand \Çf´rst-Çhand\ adj or adv…

When words are arranged in alphabeticalo rd e r, hyphens or spaces in the word sd o n ’t count. You’ll also want to ignore theb o l d f a c e dots in the entry words whenyou are looking up words in the dictio-n a ry. (We’ll explain what these dots are inlesson 4.) When you are trying to decidew h e re a word with a hyphen, space, orboldface dot belongs in an alphabetizedlist, skip over that place in the word andlook to the next letter in line.

Also, a word like to that has no lettersafter the second spot comes before aword like toad, with an a in the thirdspot. The entry ill comes before illegal,and so on.

3high n 1 : the space overhead : SKY<watched the birds on high> 2 : a

region of high barometric pressure 3 : a high point or level <pricesreached a new high> 4 : the arrange-ment of gears in an automobile givingthe highest speed of travel

high·brow \Çhà-Ébraò\n : a person ofgreat learning or culture

high fidelity n : the reproduction ofsound with a high degree of accuracy

long–lived \Çlïng-Çlàvd, -Çlivd\ adj : liv-ing or lasting for a long time

long–range \Çlïng-ÇrÜnj\ adj 1 : capableof traveling or shooting great dis-tances 2 : lasting over or providingfor a long period

long·sight·ed \Çlïng-Çsàt- d\ adj : FAR-SIGHTED — long·sight·ed·ness n

long–suf·fer·ing \Çlïng-Çs´f-´-ring, -Çs´f-ring\ adj : very patient and forgiving

5

Your name _________________________________________

© 2003 Federal Street Press

Alphabetical Order—Moving Along

Test Your Alphabet SkillsPut each series of words in the correct alphabetical order.

1. fir, fire escape, fire·crack·er, figure out, figure of speech

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________2. al·lude, any·wise, any, any·one, all-star

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________3. double play, dou·ble, double bass, dou·ble·head·er, dou·ble-joint·ed

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________4. man·i·fold, man, man-made, man·age·ment, man·age

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________5. sign language, sig·nal, sign·post, sig·nif·i·cance, sign·board

_____________ ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________