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1sig·nal … noun

2signal verb

3signal adjective

1min·ute … noun

2mi·nute … adjective

There are acceptable alternative end-of-line divisions just as there are acceptable variant spellings and pronunciations, but no more than one division is shown for any entry in this dictionary.

When a main entry is followed by the word or and another spelling, the two spellings are equal variants. Both are standard, and either one may be used according to personal inclination:

ocher or ochre

If two variants joined by or are out of alphabetical order, they remain equal variants. The one printed first is, however, slightly more common than the second:

1plow or plough

When another spelling is joined to the main entry by the word also, the spelling after also is a secondary variant and occurs less frequently than the first:

absinthe also absinth

Secondary variants belong to standard usage and may be used according to personal inclination. Once the word also is used to signal a secondary variant, all following variants are joined by or:

2wool·ly also wool·ie or wooly

Variants whose spelling puts them alphabetically more than a print column away from the main entry are entered at their own alphabetical places as well as at the main entry:

2gage var of GAUGE

1gauge also gage

Variants having a usage label appear only at their own alphabetical places:

me·tre … chiefly British variant of METER

To show all the stylings that are found for English compounds would require space that can be better used for other information. So this dictionary limits itself to a single styling for a compound:

peace·mak·er

pell–mell

boom box

When a compound is widely used and one styling predominates, that styling is shown. When a compound is uncommon or when the evidence indicates that two or three stylings are approximately equal in frequency, the styling shown is based on the comparison of other similar compounds.

A main entry may be followed by one or more derivatives or by a homograph with a different functional label. These are run-on entries. Each starts on a new line introduced by a long dash and each has a functional label. They are not defined, however, since their meanings are readily understood from the meaning of the root word:

ab·do·men … noun …

— ab·dom·i·nal adjective

— ab·dom·i·nal·ly adverb

hic·cup … noun … hiccup verb

A main entry may be followed by one or more phrases containing the entry word or an inflected form of it. These are also run-on entries. Each starts on a new line introduced by a long dash but there is no functional label. They are, however, defined since their meanings are more than the sum of the meanings of their elements:

1set … verb …

— set sail : …

1hand … noun …

— at hand : …

Defined phrases of this sort are run on at the entry defining the first major word in the phrase. When there are variants, however, the run-on appears at the entry defining the first major word which is invariable in the phrase:

1seed … noun … go to seed or run to seed …

Boldface words that appear within parentheses (as co·ca at co·caine and jet engine and jet propulsion at jet–propelled) are run-in entries. They are essentially defined within the context of the definition.

PRONUNCIATION

The matter between a pair of slashes / / following the entry word indicates the pronunciation. The symbols used are explained in the chart printed at the end of this section.

A hyphen is used in the pronunciation to show syllabic division. These hyphens sometimes coincide with the centered dots in the entry word that indicate end-of-line division:

ab·sen·tee /ˌab-sən-ˈtē/

Sometimes they do not:

met·ric /ˈme-trik/

A high-set mark ˈ indicates major (primary) stress or accent; a low-set mark ˌ indicates minor (secondary) stress or accent:

heart·beat /ˈhärt-ˌbēt/

The stress mark stands at the beginning of the syllable that receives the stress.

A syllable with neither a high-set mark nor a low-set mark is unstressed:

1struc·ture /ˈstrək-chər/

The presence of variant pronunciations