Product Description

The fourth edition of this dictionary offers learners of English detailed coverage of the language. Containing hundreds of new words and thousands of definitions written in simple, natural English, it is easy to use and understand. The examples, which have all been taken from the Bank of English, have been revised and updated for this edition, and are valuable in providing context for words and phrases. Grammatical information and additional information on synonyms, pragmatics and frequency is shown in the "Extra Column", making it easily accessible. New to this fourth edition is the identification of thousands of set grammatical structures, particularly useful to learners of English. In addition, it includes useful illustrations covering a range of topics and "Access to English" - a supplement containing hundreds of practical phrases helping with important structures in areas such as essay-writing, business correspondence and job applications.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #959314 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1768 pages

English Language Teaching Journal
An endlessly fascinating source of information about how the modern English language really works.

About the Author
Since the first dictionary was published in 1987, Collins Cobuild Dictionaries have become internationally recognized as the most authoritative and comprehensive description of modern English.

Customer Reviews

An extremely clear book with loads of examples on its CD-Rom
The book immediately offers the reader useful information about the most frequently used words in the English language by means of one to three blue diamonds printed next to them. At the end of the paper dictionary you'll find a list of these most used words for you to check your level of knowledge. Very interesting are the last thirty pages where you can study useful phrases to utilize in different situations, such as "essay writing," "giving presentations," "the telephone," "correspondence," and "job applications."
By running the software, you'll find out that by typing in a word in the searching path, you not only get its meaning but also an extra, i.e. the "full text" icon. By clicking on this icon, you have access to different voices, from the real examples taken from the "Bank of English" - and sometimes you get hundreds of them - to the word's synonyms and antonyms, even if this is not the case for all the entries. Sorry the entries don't have IPA symbols but just some loudspeaker icons which let you hear the pronunciation of the singular, the plural, the -ing form, and the past form. The presence of the IPA symbols would have been useful. That's why I gave this product only four stars.
To conclude, I recommend this dictionary to those who are interested in the real usage of the English words, for among the real English examples they'll find what they are looking for, for sure!

A great package at an affordable price
The dictionary is complete, thorough and very useful for foreign learners. It's always quite clear whether a term is used in today's English or it's a thing of the past. Differences between UK and US english are also highlighted, and I am usually able to find what I'm looking for.
The CD-ROM may be installed to the hard drive. This way you can always have the dictionary ready, just one click away. The electronic format may not be as complete as the book's, but it's still more than enough for most needs.
I give this product five stars, and kudos to Collins for the very low price tag!

Excellent definitions
I bought this for a Russian who is trying to study for professional examinations without yet reaching an advanced level of English. This dictionary enhances her understanding of words, far more than her Russian-English dictionary, so I think it can be generally recommended to learners of English.