The Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

vocation, conduct; business, office: He genuinely enjoys the practice of law. I heard of a veterinary practice for sale in Yorkshire.

It would be difficult--perhaps impossible--to defend such fine distinctions in every instance: indeed, as a comparison of the different lengths of the entries in any dictionary will quickly reveal, language does not provide the same levels of sense discrimination for all words. The metaphorical focus and diversity of a language provide for polysemy in some semantico-cultural spheres but not in others. The classic observation often cited to demonstrate this linkage is that of the Inuit language that has a large number of distinguishing words for types of snow or of the African language that has an extensive vocabulary to describe the kinship among its speakers. On the grounds that the lexicon of a language is moulded by speakers who, quite naturally, use it to talk (and write) about things that are important to them, one might be tempted to draw conclusions about the voracity of English-speakers by reflecting that the entry for take has about twice as many definitions in most dictionaries as that for give.

e. Often, the semicolon may be used to separate transitive uses of a verb from intransitive:

preach v....2 moralize, sermonize, advise, counsel, admonish, reprimand, lecture, harangue, pontificate; urge, inculcate, advocate: Mother used to preach to us about being charitable. Father preached restraint in all things.

Because of the behaviour of verbs in English, different synonyms may be required depending on what the object of the verb is and, often, whether the object is a word or phrase or a clause:

predict v. foretell, prophesy, forecast, foresee, augur, prognosticate, forewarn, presage, vaticinate; portend, foreshadow, foretoken, forebode; intimate, hint, suggest: My mother predicted that there would be moments like this. If only I could predict the winner of the 2.30!

f. Wherever possible, the proper prepositional or adverbial particle normally accompanying a verb in a certain sense has been supplied, though it must be emphasized that the one offered is the most

frequently used and not, necessarily, the only one acceptable in standard usage. Particles used with some words may vary considerably, owing not only to dialect variation but also to whether the verb is used actively or passively as well as to which nuance of meaning, sometimes far too subtle to be dealt with adequately in a book of this kind, is to be expressed. The following entry illustrates the full treatment that can be accorded to words that occur in a wide variety of grammatical environments:

persevere v. Often, persevere in or with or at: persist, resolve, decide, endure, continue, carry on or through, keep at or on or up, be steadfast or staunch or constant, keep going, stand fast or firm, see through, be or remain determined or resolved or resolute or stalwart or purposeful or uncompromising, be tenacious or persistent or constant or pertinacious or assiduous or sedulous, be tireless or untiring or indefatigable, show determination or pluck or grit, be plucky, be patient or diligent or stubborn or inflexible or adamant or obstinate or obdurate, show or exhibit or demonstrate patience or diligence or stubbornness or inflexibility or obstinacy or

obduracy, remain dogged, pursue doggedly, be intransigent or intractable, cling to, stick to, support, stop at

nothing, sustain, Colloq stick with, stick (it) out: We must persevere to win. I shall persevere in my loyalty.

g. In some adjective senses, a split might occur between attributive and predicative uses, though in most such cases, where the syntax is open, only one, usually common, illustration is given. For example, alone is used only predicatively or post-positively, not attributively; that is, one cannot say *An alone woman...In this particular case, the normal attributive form would be lone, but lone is not listed as a synonym for alone because they are not mutually substitutable. It is acknowledged that the detailed description of the special syntactic ways in which certain words (like alone, agog, galore) behave lies outside the province of

this book.

Although similar cautions must be observed and adjustments made throughout, it is hoped that the illustrative sentences will

provide a substantial basis for the user to identify idiomatic

contexts and to discriminate senses that are not always carefully distinguished in dictionaries.

CONTENTS Table of Contents =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Title Page TITLE

Edition Notice EDITION

Introduction INTRO

Table of Contents CONTENTS

A1.0 abandon... 1.1 academic... 1.2 adapt... 1.3 aesthete... 1.4 affair... 1.5 age... 1.6 ahead 1.7 aid... 1.8

akin 1.9 alarm... 1.10 amalgam... 1.11

anachronism... 1.12 apart... 1.13 arbitrary... 1.14 ashamed... 1.15 atmosphere... 1.16 audacious... 1.17 available... 1.18 awake... 1.19

B2.0

babble... 2.1 beach... 2.2 bias... 2.3 blab... 2.4 board... 2.5 brace... 2.6

bubble 2.7 by... 2.8

C 3.0 cab... 3.1 cease... 3.2 chafe... 3.3 circle... 3.4 claim... 3.5 coach... 3.6 crack... 3.7

cuddle... 3.8 cycle 3.9

D4.0 dab... 4.1 dead... 4.2

diabolic... 4.3 dock... 4.4 drab... 4.5 duck... 4.6 dwarf... 4.7 dying... 4.8

E5.0

eager... 5.1 ebb... 5.2 eccentric... 5.3 eddy... 5.4 eerie 5.5 effect... 5.6 egoistic... 5.7 eject... 5.8 elaborate... 5.9

emaciated... 5.10 enable... 5.11 epicure... 5.12 equable... 5.13 era... 5.14 escape... 5.15 etch... 5.16 eulogize... 5.17 evacuate... 5.18

exact... 5.19 eye... 5.20

F6.0 fabric... 6.1 fear... 6.2

fianc‚(e)... 6.3 flabby... 6.4 foam... 6.5 fracas... 6.6 fuel 6.7

G7.0

gab... 7.1 gear... 7.2 ghastly... 7.3 giant... 7.4 glad... 7.5 gnarled... 7.6 go... 7.7 grab... 7.8 guarantee 7.9 gyrate 7.10

H8.0 habit... 8.1 head... 8.2 hidden 8.3 hoard... 8.4 hub... 8.5 hybrid... 8.6

I9.0

icing... 9.1 idea... 9.2 ignorance... 9.3 ill... 9.4 image... 9.5 inability... 9.6 irk... 9.7 island... 9.8 itch... 9.9

J10.0 jab... 10.1

jealous... 10.2 jiggle... 10.3 job... 10.4 judge... 10.5

K11.0

keen... 11.1 kick... 11.2 knack... 11.3 kowtow 11.4 kudos 11.5

L12.0 label... 12.1 lead... 12.2

liability... 12.3 load... 12.4 luck... 12.5 lying... 12.6

M13.0 macabre... 13.1 meadow... 13.2 microbe... 13.3 moan... 13.4 muck... 13.5 mysterious... 13.6

N14.0

nab... 14.1 near... 14.2 nice... 14.3 nobility... 14.4 nub... 14.5

O 15.0 oar... 15.1

obedience... 15.2 occasion... 15.3 odd... 15.4

off... 15.5

ogle... 15.6 oil... 15.7 OK 15.8 old... 15.9 omen... 15.10 once... 15.11 ooze 15.12

opacity... 15.13 oracle... 15.14 oscillate... 15.15 otherwise 15.16 out... 15.17 oval... 15.18 owe... 15.19

P16.0 pace... 16.1 peace... 16.2

phantom... 16.3 pick... 16.4 place... 16.5 pocket... 16.6 practicable... 16.7 pseudonym... 16.8 pub... 16.9

Q17.0

quack... 17.1

R18.0 rabble... 18.1 reach... 18.2

rhapsodic... 18.3 ribaldry... 18.4 road... 18.5 rub... 18.6

S19.0

sabotage... 19.1 scale... 19.2 sea... 19.3 shabby... 19.4 sick... 19.5

sketchily... 19.6 slab... 19.7 small... 19.8 snack... 19.9 soak... 19.10 space... 19.11 squad... 19.12 stab... 19.13 suave... 19.14 swagger... 19.15 sybarite... 19.16

T20.0 tab... 20.1 teach... 20.2 thank... 20.3 tickle... 20.4 toast... 20.5 trace... 20.6 tug... 20.7

tweak... 20.8 tycoon... 20.9

U21.0

ugly 21.1 ulcer... 21.2 umbrage... 21.3

unabashed... 21.4 upbeat... 21.5 urge... 21.6 usage... 21.7 Utopia... 21.8

V22.0 vacancy... 22.1 vehicle... 22.2 viable... 22.3 vocalist... 22.4 vulgar... 22.5

W23.0

wad... 23.1 weak... 23.2

wheedle... 23.3 wicked... 23.4 woe... 23.5 wrap... 23.6

Y24.0 yank... 24.1 yearly... 24.2 yield... 24.3 young... 24.4 yucky... 24.5

Z25.0

zany... 25.1 zealot... 25.2 zone... 25.3

1.0 A =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1.1 abandon...

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abandon v. 1 give up or over, yield, surrender, leave, cede, let go, deliver (up), turn over, relinquish: I can see no reason why we should abandon the house to thieves and vandals. 2 depart from, leave, desert, quit, go away from: The order was given to abandon ship. 3 desert, forsake, jilt, walk out on: He even abandoned his fianc‚e. 4 give up, renounce; discontinue, forgo, drop, desist, abstain from: She abandoned cigarettes and whisky after the doctor's warning.

--n. 5 recklessness, intemperance, wantonness, lack of restraint, unrestraint: He behaved with wild abandon after he received the inheritance.

abandoned adj. 1 left alone, forlorn, forsaken, deserted, neglected; rejected, shunned, cast off or aside, jilted, dropped, outcast: An abandoned infant was found on the church steps. Totally alone, she felt abandoned by her friends. 2 bad, immoral,

amoral, wicked, sinful, evil, corrupt, unprincipled, unrestrained, uninhibited, reprobate; loose, wanton, debauched, wild, dissolute, dissipated, profligate; depraved, lewd,

lascivious, flagitious: His abandoned behaviour soon landed him in jail.

abbreviate

v. 1 shorten, compress, contract, truncate, trim, reduce,

curtail: We abbreviated some of the longer words to save space. 2 shorten, cut, condense, abridge, abstract, digest, epitomize, summarize, US synopsize: The school presented an abbreviated version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

abbreviated

adj. skimpy, brief, revealing: The dancers' abbreviated costumes shocked some members of the audience.

abbreviation

n. initialism; acronym; shortening, contraction: UK is one kind of abbreviation, or initialism; NATO, which is pronounced as a word, is another, usually called an acronym.

abdicate v. give up, renounce, disclaim, waive, disown, surrender, yield, relinquish, abandon, resign, quit: He abdicated all responsibility for care of the children. She abdicated the throne to marry a commoner.

goad; aid, help, assist: The jury found that his wife had abetted him in the murder. 2 countenance, approve (of), support, endorse, second, sanction, condone; further, advance, promote, uphold: By failing to inform on the terrorists, the neighbours abetted the bombing.

abeyance n. in abeyance. pending, abeyant, reserved, in reserve, shelved, pushed or shoved or shunted aside, postponed, put off, suspended, US tabled; temporarily inactive, dormant; latent; Colloq in a holding pattern, on the back burner; Slang on hold, in the deep-freeze, on the shelf, on ice, hanging fire: Legal proceedings were held in abeyance so that talks could take place