Longman Contemporary English Dictionary (Fourth Edition)

Author: Pearson Education Limited, UK
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2004-10-01
Features: This dictionary comprehensively reflects the current state of the English language, including over 106,000 words and phrases, an increase of more than 240,000 compared to the Third Edition Supplement. In addition to common vocabulary, it also includes a large number of specialized terms in science, technology, humanities, social sciences, and encyclopedic fields, including many newly emerging words that highlight contemporary characteristics. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE) is one of the series of dictionaries published by Longman Publishing Group. With its accurate and clear definitions, LDOCE has been highly praised by readers, especially students, both in the UK and abroad. The newly published LDOCE is the Fourth Edition, which not only inherits and retains the features and advantages of the previous three editions but also has the following significant characteristics:
1. Extensive Word List and Numerous New Words: The Fourth Edition of LDOCE fully reflects the current state of the English language, including over 106,000 words and phrases, an increase of more than 240,000 compared to the Third Edition Supplement. In addition to common vocabulary, it also includes a large number of specialized terms in science, technology, humanities, social sciences, and encyclopedic fields, including many newly emerging words that highlight contemporary characteristics.
2. Rich and Diverse Examples, Natural and Idiomatic: The Fourth Edition of LDOCE includes over 155,000 example sentences, all sourced from the Longman Corpus Network, a corpus with 3 billion words. These examples are not randomly created but are selected from various real-life sources such as books, newspapers, magazines, spoken language, and online usage. This helps English learners better understand how words are used in specific contexts and learn "lively" English.
3. Comprehensive Collocations, Clear Organization: English collocations are flexible and varied, making them difficult to master. The Fourth Edition of LDOCE includes over 220,000 collocations, with detailed summaries and analyses provided for readers. To further facilitate English learners in their searches, LDOCE also features blue boxes dedicated to these collocations.
4. Practical and Detailed Sections: This dictionary includes "Word Choice," "Word Focus," and "Grammar" sections. In previous editions, the "Usage Note" section was highly favored by English learners. In the Fourth Edition of LDOCE, the editors have further refined the "Usage Note" into three sub-sections: "Word Choice," "Word Focus," and "Grammar," making its functionality even more comprehensive. "Word Choice" focuses on explaining the differences and usage of synonyms; "Word Focus" lists a category of words related to the main entry to help readers fully grasp the vocabulary and achieve a deeper understanding, such as the "Word Focus" under the "marry" entry, which includes words like "wedding," "bridegroom," "the best man," and "propose." "Grammar" focuses on explaining the grammar related to the entry. Additionally, LDOCE includes over 7,000 synonyms and antonyms in its definitions, offering readers unexpected insights when searching for words.
5. Full-Color Printing, Vivid and Exquisite Illustrations, Clear Layout: The most common 3,000 words are marked in pink, less common words in light blue, and indicator words are highlighted with a blue background. Furthermore, this dictionary uses various humanized symbols to facilitate easy reference.