The Compact Oxford English Dictionary has a rather misleading title. It is just about the biggest dictionary you would need unless you were a librarian or a professional writer. It's a two-volume version of the complete Oxford English Dictionary - but it has been photo-reduced, so that the text is laid out in very small print. The volumes are issued with a magnifying glass - and you'll need it. But here's the good news. It works - and on those occasions that you want to check the history of a word's meaning, it's a mine of information.

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