Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary, eleventh edition is the most up to date dictionary avialable 10,000 new words and senses from all fields of knowledge 165,000 entries and 225,000 definitions detailed symbols show most-common prounciations and aceptable variants and expert word guidance synonym paragraphs explain different shades of mening between words usage paragraphs provide guidelines for words with confused or disputed usage and a handbook of stysle offers essential infoemation to improve writing skills