play videos pictures in the dictionary
Words Matter

Pictures in the Dictionary

The story of those iconic illustrations.


The story of those iconic illustrations.

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play videos pictures in the dictionary
Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

play video title attorney generals
Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

play video its vs its
Its vs. It's

 

Some practical guidance, and interesting history, about a common mistake.

play video his or her
Is singular 'they' a better choice?

 

The awkward case of 'his or her'

play video mischievous nulcear library mispronunciations
'Mispronunciations' That May Be Fine

 

'Mischievous,' 'nuclear,' and other words to pronounce with caution.

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

play video schwa
The Schwa

 

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.