If you are like me, you have encountered a lot of people who will try to use a dictionary definition to support an argument or claim they are making. Unfortunately, people generally do it wrong. So I present to you a helpful and pretentious guide on how to use a dictionary.
The first and most important thing you can realize is that a word is more than its dictionary definition. Every word has connotations, which are usually not captured in a dictionary. This is probably the most elusive quantity of a given word. You can try looking at the thesaurus for connotative properties of a word, but this is often insufficient. Other helpful tools for connotations include urbandictionary.com, and looking at the word in the contexts in which it is generally used. Or you can just ask someone. But always keep in mind: the dictionary will never tell you everything. (A dictionary with good illustrative quotes is helpful but probably still not sufficient.)
So, with that in mind, let’s move on to what the dictionary can tell us! Remember it is seldom a good idea to simply pick a single definition without considering the rest of them. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how this is done. Instead, look at all of the definitions. dictionary.com has lots of dictionaries, and each usually provides a slightly different picture of the word. Try them all out and get them all out in the open. (You can safely curtail definitions that are clearly irrelevant, but sometimes these can be informative, as well.)
Next, remember that there are terms of art in any given field. It is possible that a particular word to a particular field has a particular meaning. You can’t have a conversation with someone if you keep insisting that they are using a word wrong. Be willing to accept that the definition you use may not be the definition you find in a dictionary at all.
This brings me to another important point: the purpose of a dictionary and a definition is not to prove someone wrong; it is to facilitate communication and encourage logical consistency. On the former point, therefore, it is important that you can agree on a definition with your conversational partners. (If you’re writing and you think there is a question, go ahead and define the word.) On the latter point, it is important not to equivocate. Pick a definition and stick with it.
Picking a definition can be tricky. Often, multiple definitions seem to fit what you are going for. Picking the best fit, therefore, sometimes requires putting your definition in other contexts. Generally you don’t want a definition which is so broad as to be useless, nor one which is so narrow it only applies to the context in question. So pick something precise enough that there is no room for confusion, but not so narrow that it makes the word useless outside of the context in which you are using it.
Generally, the most useful tool for understanding a word’s definition is to replace the word with the definition. Sometimes this requires some inventive reshuffling of the sentence or is otherwise impractical, but by and large it is the best way to see if it fits.
Really, though, proper use of a dictionary is simple so long as you keep in mind that it is at its best when it is illustrative, not prescriptive. Recall that the English language is gaining new words every day, that words change, and that the OED was first compiled in a descriptive fashion by men who looked at words and then wrote out what they were used to mean. Recall that in many fields definitions more precise than common use are required, and that these may not be in a dictionary. Recall that there are many connotations and confounds, so that the idea of a “correct” definition departs. The only correct definition is the one that is most useful for your conversation or writing to be as clear, concise, and consistent as possible.
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