86 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More words than any other single-book competitor, 10 Dec 2003
I wanted to find out the meaning of the word "mommet" that crops up in Hardy's "Tess of the Durbevilles". I looked through increasingly large versions of the Oxford English Dictionary, and only found it eventually in the two-volume Shorter Oxford. However, when I turned to my Chambers Dictionary, it was right there.
The point being, Chambers' style of categorising words under similar roots allows it to cram far more into a single volume. If you want lots of words, rather than long, encyclopaedic and often repetitious, definitions, go for Chambers.
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78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
all you'll ever need, 23 Oct 2003
The ultimate single volumed dictionary. This is the only dictionary you'll ever need: invaluable for all crossword and scrabble lovers. Don't be misled into buying the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, it's not as good as this one! Every home should have one very good dictionary and if you want one to serve you well for life then get this!
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53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The perfect crossword companion, 29 Jan 2002
This review is from: The Chambers Dictionary (Paperback)
The Chambers is the best available source of obscure dialect words, obsolete words from Spencer et al, and senses of ordinary words that have long been forgotten. It is this comprehensiveness that has made it the cruciverbalist's bible, particularly for crosswords of the more fiendish variety.
Qua dictionary, though, it is awkward to use compared to the various Oxford dictionaries (the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the New Oxford Dictionary of English, and the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, in order of size). Moreover, the famously amusing definitions are far and few.
In short, buy this dictionary if you have to - i.e., if you while away your time solving (or setting) crosswords, or if you delight in our language's paths less trod. Otherwise, your best one-volume bet is probably the New Oxford Dictionary of English.
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