On my shelf I keep a first edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. On its back cover is a deep dent from when I tried to use the dictionary to pound down a door hinge. I ...

Since the 1960s, the reference book has cataloged how people actually use language, not how they should. That might be changing. An Object Lesson. That symbolic importance is summed up in the phrase ...

Dictionary apps are always convenient – whether you are accommodating to life in a new country, learning a new language for kicks, or simply wanting to check the meaning of a few words you didn’t ...