Guide words help users better navigate a dictionary. Guide words are some of the most helpful tools in navigating the dictionary. Also found in things like indexes, phone books, or reference manuals, they can help narrow down search so that people can determine if they’re on the right page, or if they need to progress forward or back.

These determinations really quicken searching, and though many people now rely on things like the Internet for definitions, the day may come when the power is out or when people have to pick up a reference book for other reasons. Fortunately, guide words are still utilized to help make this process easier.

A lot of dictionaries use a slightly different practice. They list two words on each page, which might be separated by a dot or hyphen, and these words are usually in bold. Sometimes the words are separate by the whole page and there will be one bold word at the top left, and the top right. No matter how arranged, when there are two words on the page, the first word is the first definition found at the top of that page and the second word is the definition word found at the very bottom of that page. It may be helpful to remember the following: first word First word equals first listing and definition and last word equals last listing and definition.equals first listing and definition and last word equals last listing and definition.

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2 years ago