Thesaurus Use Standard 4D

What is a Thesaurus? A thesaurus is a reference book similar to a dictionary. Instead of having definitions like a dictionary, a thesaurus has synonyms. Synonyms are words that have the same or almost the same meaning as another word.

How do you use it? You can use a thesaurus to revise your writing. If you are writing a story and keep using the word "big," you can look in a thesaurus for other words that mean the same thing as "big" and use those instead. By using a variety of words, your writing becomes more colorful and more exciting.

More! Often, thesaurus entries provide contrasting words and antonyms (words having the opposite or nearly the opposite meaning). The antonyms will be labeled in some way to tell them apart from the synonyms.

Word Concepts Word concepts are very short definitions, usually one word long. Concepts give general ideas of words. For example, the concept for the word dog is "animal." The concept in a thesaurus entry is in parentheses and capital letters. Look at the thesaurus entry below: land, n. soil, earth, property (GROUND) The concept gives a short meaning that covers the general idea of the word. Ground is a general idea for land.

Parts of Speech A thesaurus gives the part of speech for each entry. The part of speech tells how the word is used in the sentence. Below are abbreviations for parts of speech. v. = verb n. = noun adj. = adjective adv. = adverb In the thesaurus entry below, the part of speech for sag is a verb: sag, v. lean, curve, bow (BEND)

Synonyms The main purpose for using a thesaurus is to choose synonyms. Writers use a thesaurus when they revise their work. They can replace dull words with interesting ones. The words listed between the part of speech and the concept word are synonyms. Study the following thesaurus entries and sample question below: date, n. appointment, engagement (ARRIVAL) date, n. day, year, hour, moment (TIME) date, v. fix the time, register (TIME MEASUREMENT) Which word would best replace date in the following sentence? The sisters set a date to meet for lunch. A. day B. register C. appointment D. year Replace date in the sentence with each answer choice. Appointment makes the most sense: The sisters set an appointment to meet for lunch.

Antonyms Sometimes the thesaurus will show antonyms of a word. Antonyms are words that have an opposite meaning. The thesaurus will use ant to show that the words listed are antonyms instead of synonyms. Here is an example: gloomy, adj. heavyhearted, mournful, sorry, unhappy, blue (SAD) ant glad, happy, cheerful

Which word would best replace produce in the sentence below? Those gray clouds will probably produce rain. A.Crop B.Food C.Dry D.Make

Which word would best replace produce in the sentence below? Bob's is my favorite grocery store because it has the freshest produce. A.Breed B.Result C.Fruit D.Starting

Which word would best replace crop in the sentence below? The summer was so hot, I decided to crop off my favorite jeans to the knee. A.Gathering B.Arise C.Cut D.Drop in

How many synonyms are listed for the noun form of crop? A. 3 B. 7 C. 5 D. 6