How to use the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app

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What’s in the dictionary?

The OALD app includes all the entries from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (9th edition) and entries from the Guide to British and American Culture. It includes lots of extra information about words, such as verb forms, grammar points, origins, synonyms, collocations and extra example sentences.

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How do I look up a word?

There are two main search modes in this app: simple search and full dictionary search. Switch between them using the icon to the left of the search box.

Simple search [SIMPLE_SEARCH]

Start typing a word in the search box and then tap the word you want when it appears in the index below. A Did you mean...? list will display some suggestions if you spell a word incorrectly.

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Full dictionary search [FULLTEXT_SEARCH]

Full dictionary search allows you to search for words within dictionary entries. This mode will display results in more context under the headings: Headwords, Phrasal Verbs, Idioms, and Examples.

A Did you mean...? list will also appear in full dictionary search mode if you spell a word incorrectly.

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Wildcard search

To see words containing particular letters, you can do a wildcard search using a question mark (?) or an asterisk (*). Use (?) to replace one letter, or (*) to replace any number of letters. For example:

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Search history [HISTORY_ICON]

Tap the History icon to see a list of your recent searches. You can tap any item in the list to see the relevant entry.

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Moving between entries

To move alphabetically to the next/previous entry in simple search mode, use the arrows in the bar near the top of the entry, or swipe right/left.

To move through your recent searches, use the forward/back arrows in the top toolbar.

You can also tap on any word within an entry to jump to the entry for that word.

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What’s in an entry?

Idioms and phrasal verbs

Idioms and phrasal verbs are shown in two separate sections at the end of entries. There are buttons labelled Idioms and Phrasal Verbs at the top of any entries that include them. Tap on these buttons to jump directly to the Idioms and Phrasal Verbs sections.

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Audio

To hear how to pronounce a word, tap on the blue speaker for British pronunciation or the red speaker for American pronunciation. You can also listen to example sentences by tapping on the speaker icons at the end of the sentences.

If you are online, you can stream the headword audio and spoken sentences from the Internet. To listen to these audio files when you are offline, you will need to download them to your device from the Manage downloads tab. A Wi-Fi connection is recommended for this.

You can also remove the downloaded audio files from the Manage downloads tab. After removing them from your device, you can still listen to the audio files with an Internet connection, or of course re-download them at any time.

You can also record your voice and compare it to the audio in the dictionary. See Practise your Pronunciation for more information.

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Illustrations

There are hundreds of illustrations in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. You will need to download these from the Manage downloads tab. They will then display when you look up a word. Tap on the Expand icon on the small image within an entry to see a larger picture, which will often contain related words and pictures for you to explore.

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Usage notes

Tap on usage note headings within entries to show more information about the word you have looked up. Each type of usage note provides different information:

British/American

These notes explain the differences between British and American usage. For example, at the entry for holiday, you will find a note about the words holiday and vacation in British and American English.

Collocations

These notes show useful words and phrases connected with particular topics, and a selection of verbs to use with those words and phrases. For example, at the entry for job, you can see a note that deals with the topic of jobs, including getting a job and leaving a job.

Culture

These notes give extra information about a subject, taken from the Oxford Guide to British and American Culture. For example, at the entry for lawyer, there is a note about the legal system in Britain and the United States.

Express Yourself

These notes help you find the right thing to say in everyday situations. For example, at the entry for advice, you will find a note containing useful language for giving somebody advice.

Grammar Point

These notes help explain points of grammar that often cause problems. For example, at the entry for many, you will find a note about the usage of many, a lot of and lots of.

Language Bank

These notes show you how to express similar ideas in a variety of ways, particularly in writing. For example, at the entry for contrast, there is a note containing useful language for highlighting differences.

More About These notes give you more information about an aspect of life or language in Britain and the United States, and show you the correct words to use. For example, at the entry for exam, you can see a note about the use of the words exam, examination, test, and quiz.
Synonyms These notes show the differences between groups of words with similar meanings. the words in each group are given in order of frequency - from the most common to the least common. For example, at the entry for beautiful, there is a note including a group of synonyms or near-synonyms.
Vocabulary Building These notes help you to choose more interesting and varied words to use and so increase your vocabulary. For example, at the entry for break, you will find a note that gives a variety of verbs that mean break.
Which Word? These notes show the differences between words that are often confused. For example, at the entry for as, you will find a note that explains the difference between as and like.
Word Family These notes show the different forms of words. For example at the entry for able, you can see a note containing different words belonging to this word family and their part of speech, such as ability and disabled.
Wordfinder These notes help you to find words that are related in meaning to the word you are looking up. For example, at the entry for adventure, there is a note containing a group of related words.
Word Origin These notes contain information about where the word you are looking up comes from.

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Practise your Pronunciation

You can record your voice and compare it to the pronunciation given in the dictionary. Tap the microphone icon in the toolbar within an entry. Use the blue and red speaker icons to listen to the British and American pronunciations. Record your voice by pressing the red Record button. Press the button again to stop recording, and then again to listen to your voice.

When you leave the entry, your voice recordings are not preserved.

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Verb Forms

Tap on Verb Forms within any verb entry to open a box containing the present simple, past simple, past participle, and -ing form of the verb you are looking at. You can also listen to the pronunciation of the different verb forms in British or American English by tapping on the blue or red speaker icons.

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Understanding definitions

If there is a word you do not understand in any entry, you can simply tap on it to jump to the entry for that word.

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Understanding symbols and abbreviations

Dictionary entries often include symbols and abbreviations. Please look at About OALD in the Information section to see what a symbol or an abbreviation means, and to learn more about symbols and abbreviations.

If you tap on any written pronunciation within a dictionary entry you will see a chart showing all the phonetic symbols for British and American English, with an example word for each sound.

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Favourites

Choosing Favourites

You can add interesting, difficult or important words to your Favourites list. You can also make your own Favourites folders and subfolders to keep all your favourite words organized in any way you like, for example by topic, difficulty, or usage.

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Creating folders and subfolders

To create a folder, go to the Favourites tab from the menu or by tapping the star icon in the top toolbar. Then tap the Add folder icon in the top toolbar and type the folder name. Tap the Create button to save it.

To create a subfolder, tap the folder in which you would like to create your subfolder. Tap the Add folder icon in the top toolbar and add a subfolder in the same way as above.

You can also create folders and subfolders from directly within entries. Go to an entry and tap the Add to Favourites icon. To create a folder, select the New folder option that appears at the top of your Favourites list. To create a subfolder, first open a folder and then select the New folder option.

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Storing and viewing entries

To add an entry to Favourites, go to the entry you want to add and tap on the Add to Favourites icon. Then choose the folder or subfolder in which you would like the entry to appear. Alternatively, you can tap the Save button to make the entry appear in Favourites outside of a folder or subfolder.

To view your Favourites, go to the Favourites tab and tap the entry, folder or subfolder you would like to see. You can browse entries in Favourites by swiping left/right.

You can choose whether to store your Favourites alphabetically or by date from the top toolbar.

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Deleting entries and folders

You can delete individual entries, or entire folders or subfolders, from your Favourites list. Tap and hold the entry, folder or subfolder you wish to delete and then select Yes in the pop-up that appears.

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Pre-installed Favourites lists

We have included some lists of useful entries for you to look at in Favourites. You can edit these lists in the same way as the lists that you create yourself.

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Exporting Favourites lists

You can share your Favourites lists using the Export function. Enter the list that you would like to export in Favourites, then tap the Export icon in the top toolbar. Select your preferred option from the list that appears to export your Favourites list.

If you have chosen to export via email and you do not then receive this email, please check your Junk folder.

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My OALD

Choosing my design

You can personalise your OALD in the Settings tab, for example by adjusting the text size and choosing your keyboard and highlighting options.

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Choosing what I see [MYVIEW_ICON] [MYVIEW_ICON_CRESCENT]

You can choose to show or hide pictures, pronunciation, synonyms and opposites, examples, and other elements of an entry. Select which parts of an entry you want to see in My View in Settings. Switch between Full View and My View using the moon icon within a dictionary entry.

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Choosing what I hear

If you have not downloaded the spoken example sentences, and do not want to listen to them via the Internet, you can hide the speaker symbols (sentences only) in Settings.

See Audio for more information on downloading and managing the spoken sentences and other audio files.

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Additional Features

News

In the News tab you will receive notifications about our latest products and special offers. You can configure your news notifications in Settings.

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Google Voice Search ©

Google Voice Search © allows you to look up words by speaking instead of typing. Make sure you are connected to the Internet, then tap on the microphone icon in the right of the search box and select the Google Voice Search © option. After you say a word, a list of matching results will be displayed. Tap on a word to open the dictionary entry.

If Google Voice Search © is not already installed on your device, you can download it for free from Google Play.

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Look up from clipboard

You can look up words in the dictionary while reading your emails, browsing the Internet, etc. Select and copy some text, open the OALD app and choose the Look up from clipboard option which will appear when you tap on the microphone icon in the right of the search box. The text you copied earlier will be displayed automatically. You will then be able to open the relevant dictionary entries one by one.

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Find on page

To look for a specific word within a dictionary entry, you can use the Find on page feature. Tap on the magnifying glass icon and then enter your word into the search box that appears. All instances of this word within the entry will be highlighted and you can use the up and down arrows in the search box to move between them.

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Contact Us

If you need any further help using this app, please contact us at eltsupport@oup.com.

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