Newly updated, the Oxford English Minidictionary is the most authoritative, up-to-date, and easy-to-use compact dictionary available. It covers the spelling and meaning of 40,000 of the most common words in current English and offers more than 45,000 definitions, including new words and phrases such as biodiversity, Nicam, set-aside, and twoc. This handy guide also offers generous coverage of irregular spellings and pronunciations given for difficult words. With a special supplement for word-game players, useful appendices on correct usage and punctutation, and lists of countries of the world, chemical elements, and metric units, this is the ideal portable dictionary for quick reference at home, at school, at the office, or on the go.