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"Its unique emphasis on collocations makes this dictionary particularly useful to new learners of English." - David B. Guralnik, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, Webster's New World dictionaries (1941-2000), Simon & Schuster, Cleveland, OH.

"This works! And, it is a dictionary that will offer home, school, and professional readers and writers accurate definitions in context good for years to come." - Professor William R. Martin, Dept. of Education, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
 

"The User's^® Webster will be useful and usable - it is well named, the type is easy to read, the pronunciations do not require any key, the explanations are clear and concise, and the examples show idiomatic and typical usage." - Professor Edward Gates, Asst. Editor, Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1961; President, Dictionary Society of North America, 1997-1999.

good (short "oo") adj., comp. bet.ter (BET.ur), superl. best having a desirable quality: Rain is good for crops, but bad for a picnic; She's good at or in manual work; good with her hands; good to her in-laws; Isn't it good to be home at last! Does 2 + 2 = 4 hold good (= be true) under all conditions? She's been away a good (= considerable) while; so tired I'm as good as (= almost) dead; a round-trip ticket that is good for (= valid for) a year; This pen is no good ( = useless). -- n.1 what is good: to do good and avoid evil; The laws work for the common good; Happiness is the highest good; What good is food you can't eat? I'm telling you for your own good; A teacher tries to bring out the good in every student; Some come to no good (= yield no good result); Sound advice, well taken works to our good.
2 goods pl. moveable personal property; also, merchandise; things for sale: capital, consumer, durable, manufactured goods; a goods-and-services tax. --for good (and all) forever. --have the goods on someone Slang. know something bad about a person that others don't. – adv. Informal. well: I can't see good through the fog; It's raining good and ( = really) heavy. -- make good 1 succeed: Unsuccessful throughout life, he made good by marrying a wealthy widow. 2 put into effect: to make good one's escape; make good (on) a promise, a threat. 3 pay for something: to make good a loss.

heav.y (HEV.ee) adj. heav.i.er, -i.est having great weight; hence, hard: a heavy load, rain; a heavy blow; heavy features, fighting, news, reading, traffic; They made it heavy going for him at work; a heavy (= hard to digest) meal; a heavy (= sorrowful) heart; a heavy (= hard to endure) odor; a heavy (= sound) sleeper; a heavy drinker and smoker (who drinks and smokes a lot); a heavy (= abundant) vote. –adv.: a deed that lies heavy on his conscience; Time hangs heavy on her hands (= drags). --n., pl. heav.ies 1 something heavy, as a large wave. 2 a strong person hired for protection, as a bouncer, or one of consequence. 3 an actor in a nonheroic or villainous role. --heav.i.ly adv.; heav.i.ness n.

knock (NOK) n. a sharp blow with something hard or solid, as a fist, knuckles, gavel, etc.: a loud knock on the door; the hard knocks one has to take in the struggle to make a living; the lessons everyone learns in the school of hard knocks. --v. strike, pound, or collide: to knock at or on a neighbor's door; The boxer was knocked down in the first round; The ball knocked the vase off the table; No one likes to knock (Informal for attack or criticize) a colleague; An engine that knocks (= makes a rattling noise) needs antiknock in the fuel or no-knock gasoline. --knock about or around 1 roam around. 2 treat someone roughly. --knock back consume, esp. a quantity of liquor. --knock down 1 to fell. 2 indicate an auctioned item as sold, with a knock of the gavel. 3 disassemble: furniture that comes knocked down in a carton. --knock off Informal. 1 deduct: We'll knock 10% off the price. 2 stop work or other activity: We knock off (work) at 5 p.m.; Will you please knock it off (= stop behaving like that)? 3 finish routinely: a prolific writer who knocks off one book after another. 4 overcome or kill. --knock out 1 defeat, as in boxing, or put a pitcher out of a game of baseball. 2 make inoperative: power lines knocked out by a storm; Two drinks are enough to knock him out
(= make him unconscious). --knock someone's socks off Informal. amaze or overwhelm. --knock together put together or compose hastily. 
--knock.er n.

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frail adj. weak or delicate: a man in frail health; a frail beauty, constitution, flower, smile, voice; frail excuses, hands, happiness, hopes, humanity.

nu.tri.ent (NEW.tree.unt) n. a substance or ingredient that is nourishing: diets rich in nutrients; critical, healthful, staple, vital nutrients; adja.: the nutient content of a salad; the nutrient value of beef; In hydroponics, a water-based nutrient solution is used instead of soil; cpd: a nutrient-conscious generation; nutrient-packed cells; nutrient-poor water; nutrient-rich foods.

nu.tri.tion (new.TRISH.un) n. 1 the study of the process by which food is assimilated by an organism.

2 nourishment. --nu.tri.tion.al adj. having to do with nutrition: nutritional aspects, claims, data, deficiency, needs, value; nu.tri.tion.al.ly adj.

--nu.tri.tion.ist n.

nu.tri.tion.al adj. having to do with nutrition: nutritional aspects, claims, data, deficiency, needs, value; nu.tri.tion.al.ly adv. --nu.tri.tion.ist n.

nu.tri.tious (new.TRISH.us) adj. having food value: delicious and nutritious dishes; Spinach is very nutritious; a nutritious breakfast, diet, food, meal.

nu.tri.tive (NEW.truh.tiv) adj. having to do with nourishment: nutritive functions, plasma; the nutritive process.

pri.mal (PRY.mul) adj. more basic than primitive in time: The Earth evolved out of primal material; the primal forces of matter and energy; primal elements, fears, struggles; the primal scream therapy for relieving tensions.

pri.me.val (pry.MEE.vul) adj. of the earliest times: the earth's primeval uninhabited condition; primeval forests, jungles. --pri.me.val.ly adv.

prim.i.tive (PRIM.uh.tiv) adj. 1 of early times; undeveloped: primitive instincts, living conditions, tribes, weapons. 2 crude; lacking modern conveni- ences: The accommodation at the camp was rather primitive. --n. 1 member of an undeveloped civilization: Some groups of people used to be called primitives. 2 one not trained or sophisticated: She's a primitive in her artistic leanings. --prim.i.tive.ly adv.; prim.i.tiv.ism n.

pri.mor.di.al (pry.MOR.dee.ul) adj. primeval: a primordial joy, urge, voice; Did matter originate as a primordial fireball of radiation? the primordial "soup" from which life arose according to some theories; a primordial swamp. --pri.mor.di.al.ly adv.