Synonyms

1. Using Dictionaries

A foreign learner of English needs to keep a good dictionary handy when he reads or writes. It will help him a great deal in learning and using words.
When in doubt about the spelling, division, and pronunciation of a word, he should look it up in a dictionary. If more than one spelling is given, he can choose either one, for both are in good use, such as: judgment, judgement; aging, ageing (the first may be more preferable). It is often difficult to decide where to divide a word at the end of a line, and it is not easy to remember all the rules involved. A dictionary shows the syllabication of a word either by leaving a space or by inserting a dot between syllables, like materialism, in·sep·a·ra·ble. It also shows whether a compound word is generally written as one word, two words, or with a hyphen, like gaslight, shortsighted, far-sighted, gas mask. The pronunciation of a word is shown in International Phonetic Symbols in many dictionaries. Some dictionaries have their special symbols, the key to which is either printed at the bottom of each page or explained in the front matter. If more than one pronunciation is given, each is acceptable.
A dictionary entry shows the part or parts of speech of a word, the transitive or intransitive use of a verb, the past tense and past participle of an irregular verb, the plural form of an irregular noun, and other forms a word may have. The history of a word - its etymology - is given in some bigger dictionaries. For instance, there may be the following information about autocrat:

[Fr. autocrate <Gr. autokrates, absolute ruler <autos, self + kratos, power, rule]

From this etymology one learns that autocrat is of Greek origin, which is likely to make the word formal, not colloquial, in style. Besides, one learns that auto means self; this will help one to understand and remember words beginning with auto, such as automobile, automatic, autograph, automaton, and autonomous.
To one learning to write, the most useful information a dictionary contains is the definitions, together with examples or illustrations, and usage labels and notes. As has been mentioned in a previous section, Chinese students should not depend on Chinese translations for the understanding of the exact meaning of an English word; instead, he should study the definitions given in English. Here is how the word dangerous is defined in English:

dangerous /'dendзaras/ adj able to or likely to cause danger: a dangerous drug / animal / criminal | It's dangerous to go too near the edge of the cliff. | The situation is potentially very dangerous. -～ly adv: He was driving dangerously. | She is dangerously ill.
- Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

The definition and illustrations make the meaning and use of dangerous very clear, and may prevent one from making a sentence like "I was very dangerous" when one means to say "I was in great danger".
Words that are not labelled in a dictionary are supposed to belong to the general vocabulary, and therefore they can be used for ordinary purposes. There are words labelled nonstandard, slang, colloquial, obsolete, archaic, dialectal, informal, vulgar, derogatory, etc. Such words should be used with care. Nigger, for instance, is labelled derogatory or taboo, because it is an offensive word; ain't is labelled nonstandard, because no educated people use it; hassle as a verb is labelled infml (informal) and is not used on formal occasions. Where there is a difference between British and American usage, the difference is usually marked.
Some dictionaries provide very helpful usage notes, such as:

The prepositions above and over can often be used in the same way: Let's hang the painting over / above the fireplace. If there is an idea of movement, over is used: The bird flew over the lake. | The sheep jumped over the wall. Over is also used if there is an idea of covering: He pulled the blanket over his head and fell asleep. | They built a roof over the courtyard.

- Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

Synonyms are also compared and differentiated in some dictionaries (see Section Ⅱ of this part).
To know what a dictionary contains and how it can best be used, one should spend some time reading its front matter or introductory material, and look at its table of contents. A dictionary may include in its appendices tables of weights and measures, irregular verbs, geographical and biographical names, and other useful information.

2. Some Good Dictionaries

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE), compiled mainly for foreign learners of English, aims to provide them with information on the core vocabulary of contemporary English. Around 56,000 words and phrases are entered, including scientific and technical terms, and informal and idiomatic expressions. What is specially helpful to foreign learners is the information it gives on the grammar, collocations, and stylistic and situational appropriacy of words. All words are defined in simple English, the defining vocabulary containing no more than 2,000 words. The meanings and uses of words are illustrated in over 75,000 examples and over 500 pictures. There are 20 Language Notes discussing uses of prepositions, phrasal verbs, etc., and ways of expressing thanks, apologies, etc. The front matter contains guides to using the dictionary, and the back matter contains eight tables, including those of numbers, weights and measures, and geographical names. Its new 1987 edition is available in China.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English (ALD) is also a good dictionary for foreign learners of English. The words and phrases are explained in simple English, with plenty of examples and pictures. Phrasal verbs like get about, get across, get along are given fuller treatment than in many other dictionaries. One special feature of the dictionary is the use of the 25 Verb Patterns, which help learners to use verbs correctly. The verbs show and tell, for instance, can be followed by an indirect object and a direct object, as in "Please show me the way" and "Please tell me the meaning", but the verbs explain and suggest cannot be used in this way - they are used in different patterns. The Verb Patterns, if carefully studied and memorized, are a valuable guide to students learning to use English verbs. The signs C and U for countable and uncountable nouns are also helpful. The 10 appendices at the back of the dictionary, which include common abbreviations, numerical expressions, and biographical and geographical names, are very useful to foreign students.
Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (WNWD) is larger in size and has a larger vocabulary than the LDOCE and ALD (over 159,000 entries in its 1979 edition). Instead of the International Phonetic Alphabet it uses its own symbols, a key to which appears at the bottom of every alternate page, and a detailed explanation of which is included in Guide to the Use of the Dictionary in the front matter. The senses of a word are arranged in semantic order from the earliest to the most recent sense so that the development of the word is shown. The etymology of each word is given in square brackets after the headword and phonetic symbols. The dictionary contains many short paragraphs in which synonyms are listed and discriminated and examples of usage supplied. Under the entry-word boil, for instance, there is the abbreviation SYN., followed by a discussion of the meaning and use of boil, seethe, simmer and stew. In the entries for the other three words, there is a note: SYN. see BOIL. Abbreviations, biographical and geographical names are entered in alphabetical order with ordinary words. In the appendices are names of colleges and universities of the United States, a guide to punctuation, mechanics, and manuscript form.
Collins Dictionary of the English Language (CDOEL) is similar to WNWD in size and the number of entries. Of the various senses of a word, the most common one in current usage is placed first; if a current sense is the "core meaning" which illuminates the meaning of other senses, the core meaning is placed first. Technical senses follow general senses; archaic and obsolete senses follow technical senses; idioms and fixed phrases are placed last. The dictionary contains a large number of scientific and technical terms and geographical and biographical entries. Abbreviations and acronyms, prefixes and suffixes are all entered as headwords in the main alphabetical list. The etymology of a word is placed at the end of an entry. There are also brief usage notes, such as the following one to -wise:

Usage. The addition of -wise to a noun as a replacement for a lengthier phrase (such as as far as ... is concerned) is considered unacceptable by most careful speakers and writers: talentwise, he's a little weak (he's a little weak as regards talent); the company is thriving profit-wise (as far as profits are concerned, the company is thriving).

Dictionaries of idioms As idioms are useful and difficult, foreign learners had better keep a dictionary of idioms, for it contains more idiomatic expressions, clearer explanations and more illustrative sentences than corresponding entries in an ordinary dictionary. A Dictionary of American Idioms, first published in 1966 and revised in 1975, defines and explains the use of over 4,000 idioms, including slang, proverbs, and clichés. NTC's American Idioms Dictionary, published by National Textbook Company in the United States, contains over 8,000 idiomatic expressions. The Phrase-Finder Index at the back of the book helps one to find any idiom very quickly. A bilingual edition was published in China in 1992. Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs treats idiomatic combinations of a verb and adverb, or a verb and preposition, or a verb with both adverb and preposition, such as take in, set about and put up with. Each phrasal verb is defined and explained with one or two examples. There is a grammar code for each entry to show how the phrase is used in sentences.

Dictionaries of collocations. Collocation means the way in which words go together. In Chinese da is often used to modify yu, but in English heavy, not big, goes with rain. Similarly, in Chinese we say qude jinbu, but in English we say make progress. When in doubt about the collocation of a word, a student may seek guidance in a Dictionary of Collocations, like Kenkyusha's Dictionary of English Collocations, published in Tokyo, and A Dictionary of English Collocations, published in Nanjing in 1988.
Dictionaries of synonyms and thesauri. There are special dictionaries of synonyms which give fuller treatment to synonyms than general dictionaries. One such dictionary is Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms, and another one is Use the Right Word, compiled by the editors of The Reader's Digest. If synonyms are grouped together without explanations, it is a book called thesaurus, which means a treasure house. Such a book is useful in that it may remind you of words you have forgotten or may acquaint you with new words with the meaning you are interested in. So it is a word-suggester. But before you use a new word, you have to learn more about it as it is not explained in the thesaurus you are using. The best-known thesaurus is perhaps Roget's, first published in 1852 by Mark Peter Roget, an American professor. Since then a number of thesauri have been published. Here is one entry in Webster's New World Thesaurus:

abandon v. 1. [To give up] leave or go off, quit, withdraw (from), discontinue, give over or up, throw over, break off, let go, cease, cast off or away or aside, discard, vacate, give away, part with, evacuate, surrender, yield, desist, concede, renounce, abdicate, lose hope of ... 2. [To leave someone or something in trouble] desert, forsake, ostracize, back out on, break (up) with, run away, defect, reject, disown, cast off, maroon, depart from, give over, throw overboard, jettison, leave behind, slip