Edited Idiom Dictionary

Author: Wang Tao et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-10-06
Features:
1. This book includes 17,000 idioms, comprising main entries and supplementary entries. The main entries are the earlier or primary forms of the idioms, each annotated with pronunciation, explanation, and book citations as examples. The supplementary entries are other forms of the idioms and are not separately explained in the book; they only indicate the corresponding main entry names.
2. The book uses simplified characters and selected characters. Characters that may cause confusion are retained in their traditional or variant forms as appropriate.
3. The terms are annotated with Pinyin letters, uniformly noting the pronunciation of individual characters rather than continuous tone changes or variations.
4. The explanation process generally follows this order: first explaining the characters and words, then elaborating on the literal or original meaning of the idiom, followed by its usage or extended or metaphorical meaning. The source and development of the idiom are explained clearly and concisely.
5. In the explanations, each meaning is typically supported by one book citation to verify the meaning and usage of the idiom. The main entry idiom in the citation is marked with ~, added words or characters are enclosed in [ ], and annotations are shown in parentheses.
6. The main entries in the text are arranged in order of Pinyin letters. Idioms starting with the same character but differing in pronunciation or tone are listed separately under the corresponding character. Entries with the same initial sound are arranged according to the number of strokes in the initial character and stroke order, and so on.
7. Each page is labeled with the Pinyin syllables and initial characters of the idioms on that page. An index of term strokes is provided at the end of the book for easy retrieval.