New Oxford American Dictionary 3rd Edition

Used book: I ordered a used book without the dust cover and with some minor wear added during shipping. The book also has a strong, but not offputting, leather smell to it.Manufacturing on the specific book: The book has a fold built up over the last hundred pages (or so) with an uncut piece of the text block folded over the end paper, like a cute little floppy tail.The edge indexing is functional and desirable, despite thumb or tabs being superior, in my opinion. The font is inviting, there are a reasonable number of quality images in the text as well as usage notes and additional information. The only downside is this odd fascination with not giving American dictionaries the IPA, a system every school student should be taught, however I'll just end up using the web for pronunciation. I'd say it's a very attractive dictionary and I made a solid choice in choosing it as my browsing and reading dictionary.

the NOAD 3rd edition is not only large & comprehensive, it is one of the finest dictionaries of the english language. thanks amazon team for a quick arrival & excellent price.

Thank you very much!

I have a Merriam Webster Collegiate that I like a lot. A Random House Unabridged that I also like a lot. The one thing they both have in common are the lettered, indented tabs to assist the user in quickly getting to any given letter within their respective groups.This Oxford Dictionary does not have the tabs, but I am able to find a given letter quickly with no problem. For what it's worth on that subject, I'm 57 years old at present and, looking back I recall being in 5th grade, doing dictionary exercises (for getting to a letter in the alphabet quickly by estimating where the letter's section would likely be)starting. We did that often and it is one of those things that have just stuck with me.I don't know if less experienced dictionary users would share my experience in getting quickly to their letter of choice in using this dictionary, but possibly.So, yes, I find this very easy to use. It's a good size if you're in want of a medium large sized dictionary. (I wanted one similar in size to those found in libraries myself. That size wouldn't be practical for most standard sized two bedroom apartments. With that, I have 3 dictionary's in "my" comfortably sized two-bedroom apartment.)Quite frankly, I like this dictionary a lot. As it turns out, I like all of my dictionaries though. I recommend this one. What would you do if there were a solar flare occurrence that knocked out a satellite or two and caused a disturbance affecting internet access? This is not a far-fetched concept. This is a potential reality we could be confronted with at any time. Cell phones, internet here one day then ZAP, gone. What happened? What's the point?The point is: that with no internet access to google a word, if you need a definition, there's a better chance than not that your good old trusty, hard-copied dictionary(ies) will be there for you to reference in the event of a bad-case scenario.I would definitely recommend this as something to keep around the house. You shouldn't have a problem finding any words. Come to think of it, with the lettered tabs, there's a few letters on each tab and you end up having to go one direction or other usually to get to your letter-section of choice anyway. They're all great if you ask me. Finally, as I recall, none of the dictionaries are ridiculously priced at all: this one included. This is definitely a good one, it has some interesting pictures that the other two I mentioned don't have. I would buy another copyt of this Oxford again if anything happened to the one I have if that's any help.

I've always been a firm believer that every home should be a hard copy of a great dictionary. I'm an avid reader and a lover of words. This dictionary is the only one you will ever need and provides hours of entertainment, full of amazing knowledge that does not need to be plugged into Wifi! It's HUGE...weighs about 8lbs! I've always been partial to the american heritage line of dictionaries, however the colossal edition of the aforementioned seems to be out of print. So, I decided to proceed forward with purchasing my first Oxford American Dictionary and I am beyond pleased. Well worth every penny of the purchase price!

One of the earlier reviewers stated that this dictionary acts like it "owns the place." I understand where that is coming from.Not only does mine act like it owns my place, when I got it, and it got acclimated to my house, it started pouting, whining, moaning, throwing fits, temper tantrums, and it wouldn't stop until I got it a furniture quality dictionary stand. Also from Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Design-Toscano-Thomas-Aquinas-Bookstand/dp/B00269EOS2/Then and only then was it content. Until it turns 16 and starts hitting me up for a car.Of course, this stand gives me plenty of room to keep this book's steady girlfriend, the Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, underneath it.Really, all jokes aside, if and when you buy and receive this tome, the first thing that will jump out at you is its size. While its listed dimensions, 9 x 2.5 x 11.5, are the truth, those actually underestimate how big the dictionary looks when it's in front of your face. You could take out a ruler and estimate those dimensions in front of you if you don't have the dictionary, but the book "in the flesh" actually seems much bigger, even though it's actually not.By comparison, the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, the ne plus ultra of unabridged American English dictionaries, is only 81% larger in three-dimenson volume. "Only 81%," I say, because just about everyone has seen W3NID, and knows how Baluchitherian it is. Also by comparison, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate, 11th Edition, which is in the same class and price point range and language class (American English) as this Oxford, and is said to be the best selling American English dictionary in the just-slightly-less-than-unabridged category, the Oxford is 70% larger in volume than it. In fact, MWC11 is only slightly more voluminus that the the Oxford Theasurus.Once you get over the physical size, then there's the matter of weight. Seven pounds, officially, but if it weighs only seven pounds, then I weigh only seven pounds. Of course, I don't weigh seven pounds, I'm the sort that can gain seven pounds just by looking at a doughnut. By comparison and officially, W3NID is 12.5 pounds, and MWC11 is 3.8 pounds.Long and short: It's big, and heavy, which means it deserves a quality stand, just to support it and show it off.Now, as for contents, Oxford gives me that sort of authoritative and official feeling of lexicography that I don't get from M-W or American Heritage (Houghton-Mifflin), which makes sense, because Oxford University is where our language pretty much officially lives. Another thing is that Oxford doesn't give me the sense that it's playing the kind of slick diss sneak diss political games with lexicography that M-W and AH are, even though Oxford does it to some extent.To conclude: New Oxford American Dictionary 3rd Edition is now in direct competition with my cat over who has control of my house.