Book excerpt: This is a reissue of the ninth edition of the world's longest-established and best-selling pocket English dictionary. It is one of the new generation Oxford dictionaries derived from the database of the highly-acclaimed New Oxford Dictionary of English and is particularly user friendly withits elegant open design, with different elements starting on new lines. It offers excellent coverage of English as an international language, the defining style is straightforward and non-technical, and thousands of examples illustrate idiomatic usage. All irregular noun, verb, and adjectivalinflections are spelled out in full, while guidance on grammar and good usage is provided by in-text notes. Additional features include Wordbuilder boxes giving information on related words and thematic tables on subjects such as countries, chemical elements, and nationalities. This title replacesISBN: 0-19-861334-2.