Albert Sydney Hornby (1898–1978)

Anyone considering this dictionary should note, it is indeed a one-way dictionary, though a very good one.

I've found this extremely useful for translating into Chinese, because unlike so many dictionaries online or off, it actually gives contextual examples, and enough of them to get a fair idea of what you're looking at. This not only makes it much easier to pick suitable translation equivalents, but also illustrates the grammatical context in which they should be used, which is one of the show more major difficulties I find. It's not perfect, but it's good. There are many sidebars and sections dedicated to specific topics (parts of the body, food, maps) which are interesting and useful, though erratically-placed and perhaps more useful collected as an appendix.

My main gripe is, I suspect, due to limited space. While the dictionary presents Chinese words and gives useful contextual information, it doesn't give the pinyin for the terms anywhere, which makes it much more difficult for you to look them up elsewere, or even to type them into a document, given that text input relies on you knowing the sound of the words. Coupled with a small font, which makes it hard to make out the details of complex Chinese characters, it can be quite frustrating when you're looking up multiple terms or trying to understand fine distinctions. I suspect the dictionary was designed for Chinese learners of English, but regardless of the reason, it's a drawback. show less

I found this dictionary rather frustrating, at least for pupils with English as a foreign language. The explanations often used words I didn't know, so I had to read several other entries, until I finally lost track of what I was looking for.

(I've used the 1984 edition at that time, so maybe the dictionary has improved since. Recommendation: try the Collins English Dictionary.)

Very decent for students, though modern dictionaries are more elaborate...

This dictionary has been compiled for learners of the English language at beginner's level. It provides definitions of words in the simplest terms supported, where necessary, by pictures and numerous illustrative phrases and sentences. There are 17,00 vocabulary items which are most likely to be met in gneral conversation and reading, and many common colloquialisms and contemporary phrases are included. There are 5,000 example sentences to show how a word is used, and notes on irregular show more verbs, plurals and doubled consonants. In addition, there are exercises on how to use the dictionary. show less