An especially good episode of the Merriam-Webster podcast Word Matters: “What Do the Dots Mean in a Definition?” Also starring the tilde, guide words, double hyphens, undefined run-ons, and nattering nabobs of negativism.
Related reading
All OCA dictionary posts (Pinboard)
[The alliteration story recounted in this episode is fun, but judging from a 1973 edition of Barron’s Vocabulary Builder, I think that a page could never run from nabob to nattering, or from pusillanimous to pussyfooter. Not enough words in between.]
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
dic·tio·nary stuff
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