Review of The Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus from Handmark

As evidenced by my previous reviews of Handmark’s stable of Palm OS applications, I love practically everything they market and distribute. Their software, for the most part, are elegantly designed and simple to use. The Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus in no exception and makes a great addition to any PDA.

Most dictionaries on the PDA market aren’t as feature-rich as Oxford’s. With a database of more than 100,000 definitions and more than 175,000 synonyms, this is a rather formidable entry as a reference guide. One of the most glaring absences from PDA dictionaries in general is a detailed pronunciation guide. With Oxford’s comprehensive and extremely helpful guide, users can look and sound like they know what they’re talking about. Each definition carries several meanings and definitions. Moreover, there are various accompanying adverbs, nouns, and other word usages.

The Thesaurus includes idiomatic expressions and synonyms. There are sample phrases and breakdowns that further detail your chosen word. When users tap any synonym, the program takes him there. There are a few more features that I will include from the Handmark site:

“This is the new second edition, with hundreds of new words including: Abenaki, burka, cargo pants, 9/11, tankini, weaponize. Includes Oxford pronunciation guides, recently viewed word lists for quick recall, and a word-of-the-day feature to build your word power.

* Word of the Day Feature
* 6 page Pronunciation Guide
* 3 different Color Schemes
* Recently Viewed Word List
* Hyperlinks Between Synonyms
* Full Expansion Memory Support”

The Oxford American Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus is the perfect guide for word definitions and usage. With three skins to choose from, this makes it not only a powerful reference but also a slice of some good eye-candy as well.

You can find out more about this product and the rest of Handmark’s stable of applications here.