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Reverse Search
Reverse Search allows you to search within the full text of dictionary entries for words, word parts, and phrases.
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Example: Searching for "apple orange" identifies all entries that contain the word "apple" or "apples" or "orange" or "oranges."
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Example: Searching for "apple orange" identifies all entries that contain the word "apple" and the word "orange."
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| anastrophe |
reversal of the normal sentence structure or word order, as in the sentence "To the battlefield rode the commanders." |
| Anglicism |
(often l.c.) a word, idiom, or feature of the English language, esp. British English, borrowed by another language; Briticism. [1/2 definitions] |
| antecedent |
in grammar, the word or word group to which a pronoun refers, as in "The women demanded their rights," in which "women" is the antecedent of "their." [1/4 definitions] |
| antepenult |
the third from last syllable in a word, such as "get" in "forgetfulness". |
| antepenultimate |
the third item from the end in a series, esp. a syllable in a word; antepenult. [1/2 definitions] |
| antonym |
a word having a meaning opposite to that of another word. |
| apheresis |
the dropping or omission of a letter, sound, or the like at the beginning of a word, as in "scuse" for "excuse". |
| aphesis |
the loss or dropping of an unstressed vowel at the beginning of a word, such as the "a" from "adobe". |
| apocope |
the loss or omission of the final letter, syllable, or sound of a word, as in "talkin'" for "talking". |
| apostrophe1 |
a mark (') used to show the omission of one or more letters or numbers from a word or figure, as in "wouldn't" for "would not" and "'87" for "1987". [1/3 definitions] |
| application program |
a computer program designed to be used by, and perform a particular function for, end users, such as a word-processing program, browser, or game. |
| appositive |
in grammar, a word, phrase, or clause that functions as a noun and is placed, without a conjunction, immediately after a noun or noun equivalent that refers to the same person, place, or thing, such as "a devoted scholar" in "my mother, a devoted scholar". [1/2 definitions] |
| archaism |
something archaic, such as a word or expression. [1/2 definitions] |
| attributive |
in grammar, a word or phrase expressing an attribute. [1/3 definitions] |
| augmentative |
in grammar, of or pertaining to a word, word element, or phrase that signifies an increase in size, intensity, or the like, such as "super-" in "superheated". [2/3 definitions] |
| back formation |
in linguistics, a word that appears to be the base of, but was actually formed from, another word, as "trivia" from "trivial". |
| barbarous |
violating accepted word usage. [1/3 definitions] |
| benedicite |
(cap.) a canticle beginning with the word "benedicite". [1/2 definitions] |
| blend |
two or more consonants that are next to each other in a word and that are pronounced together. [2/9 definitions] |
| bon mot |
a particularly apt or witty word or expression. |
| Briticism |
a word, phrase, or idiom characteristic of or belonging exclusively to the English language as used in Great Britain. |
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