Consequently, it gives a wider and more detailed treatment of entries than an abridged dictionary does, and its listings may extend over several volumes. The Random House Unabridged Dictionary. This short unabridged dictionary contains about 315,000 entries. Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language. This unabridged dictionary contains over 450,000 entries along with illustrations, some in color.
Meanings appear in chronological order and are extensively illustrated with quotations.
This dictionary does not, however, give much guidance on usage. The Oxford English Dictionary. Consisting of twenty volumes plus four supplements, The Oxford English Dictionary offers over 500,000 definitions, chronologically arranged, and more than two million supporting quotations. The quotations begin with the earliest recorded use of a word and progress through each century either until the word becomes obsolete or until its latest meaning is listed. For this reason, many scholars consider The Oxford English Dictionary the best place to find the history of a word or to locate illustrations of its usage.