Clarifies and explains words and phrases spanning a range of fields, from law and music to philosophy and cuisine. This title contains entries that include pronunciations in American English, parts of speech and other relevant grammatical information, languages of origin, definitions, examples of use, and etymological backgrounds.

Provides information about meaning, pronunciation, syllable breaks, and appropriate usage for more than ninety thousand words, and gives shades of meaning illustrated by phrases or sentences for each word.

Lists the meaning and origin of more than 1,700 traditional and contemporary English proverbs.

Explains more than 1,500 words and expressions from literature, art, history, politics, sports, film, and popular culture, which have transcended their original meanings to refer to other attributes or circumstances.

Contains alphabetically arranged entries that describe major characters from significant American novels, arranged chronologically from 1789 through 1960.

More than two thousand alphabetically arranged entries cover topics in subjects ranging from cell metabolism and nutrition to organic and physical chemistry.