Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language

It's a great achievement in American lexicography, providing a generous, comperehensive, and suprisingly durable listing of current American language. The familiarly readable clear type and single alphabetical listing that includes biographical, geographical, proper name, and abbreviation entries accompanies a sober and solidly thorough listing of virtually every word you would want to know in American English. It includes newer contributions from science, technology, slang, and does a brilliant job in giving exciting, yet accurate entymologies and definitions with all their shades of meaning.