Explanatory Notes

Inflected Forms 		Pronunciation Index   Capitalization

In comparison with some other languages English does not have many inflected forms. Of those which it has, several are inflected forms of words belonging to small, closed groups (as the personal pronouns or the demonstratives). These forms can readily be found at their own alphabetical places with a full entry (as  whom, the objective case form of  who) or with a cross-reference in small capital letters to another entry (as  those, the plural form of  that).

Most other inflected forms, however, are covered explicitly or by implication at the main entry for the base form. These are the plurals of nouns, the principal parts of verbs (the past tense, the past participle when it differs from the past tense, and the present participle), and the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs. In general, it may be said that when these inflected forms are created in a manner considered regular in English (as by adding  -s or  -es to nouns,  -ed and  -ing to verbs, and  -er and  -est to adjectives and adverbs) and when it seems that there is nothing about the formation likely to give the dictionary user doubts, the inflected form is not shown in order to save space for information more likely to be sought. Inflected forms are also not shown at undefined run-ons or at some entries bearing a limiting label:
His·pan·ic ...  adj ...  -   His·pan·i·cize ...  vt
fe·cund ...  adj ...  -   fe·cun·di·ty ...  n
2 lake  n ...  -   laky ...  adj
2 cote ...  vt ...  obs ...  : to pass by
crouse ...  adj ...  chiefly Scot ... : BRISK, LIVELY
On the other hand, if the inflected form is created in an irregular way or if the dictionary user is likely to have doubts about it (even though it is formed regularly), the inflected form is shown in boldface, either in full or cut back to a convenient and easily recognizable point. Full details about the kinds of entries at which inflected forms are shown and the kinds at which they are not shown are given in the three following sections.



NOUNS
The plurals of nouns are shown in this dictionary when suffixation brings about a change of final  -y to  -i-, when the noun ends in a consonant plus  -o or in  -ey, when the noun ends in  -oo, when the noun has an irregular plural or a zero plural or a foreign plural, when the noun is a compound that pluralizes any element but the last, when the noun has variant plurals, and when it is believed that the dictionary user might have reasonable doubts about the spelling of the plural or when the plural is spelled in a way contrary to expectations:
2 fly  n, pl  flies
ego ...  n, pl  egos
val·ley ...  n, pl  valleys
2 boo  n, pl  boos
1 tooth ...  n, pl  teeth
sheep ...  n, pl  sheep
bac·te·ri·um ...  n, pl  -ria
moth·er-in-law ...  n, pl  moth·ers-in-law
1 seed ...  n, pl  seed  or  seeds
4 pi  n, pl  pis
3 dry  n, pl  drys
sta·tus ...  n, pl  sta·tus·es
Cutback inflected forms are used when the noun has three or more syllables:
in·fir·mi·ty ...  n, pl  -ties
The plurals of nouns are usually not shown when the base word is unchanged by suffixation, when the noun is a compound whose second element is readily recognizable as a regular free form entered at its own place, or when the noun is unlikely to occur in the plural:
1 fire ...  n
2 wish  n
gad·fly ...  n
big·a·my ...  n
Nouns that are plural in form and that regularly occur in plural construction are labeled  n pl :
en·vi·rons ...  n pl
Nouns that are plural in form but that are not always construed as plurals are appropriately labeled:
ge·net·ics ...  n pl but sing in constr
forty winks  n pl but sing or pl in constr
A noun that is singular in construction takes a singular verb when it is used as a subject; a noun that is plural in construction takes a plural verb when it is used as a subject.



VERBS
The principal parts of verbs are shown in this dictionary when suffixation brings about a doubling of a final consonant or an elision of a final -e or a change of final  -y to  -i-, when final  -c changes to  -ck in suffixation, when the verb ends in  -ey, when the inflection is irregular, when there are variant inflected forms, and when it is believed that the dictionary user might have reasonable doubts about the spelling of an inflected form or when the inflected form is spelled in a way contrary to expectations:
3 brag  vb  bragged; brag·ging
2 love  vb  loved; lov·ing
1 spy ...  vb  spied; spy·ing
2 picnic  vi  pic·nicked; pic·nick·ing
2 monkey  vb  mon·keyed; mon·key·ing
1 swim ...  vb  swam ...;  swum ...;  swim·ming
4 bias  vt  bi·ased  or  bi·assed; bi·as·ing  or  bi·as·sing
2 visa  vt  vi·saed ...;  vi·sa·ing
2 chagrin  vt  cha·grined ...;  cha·grin·ing
The principal parts of a regularly inflected verb are shown when it is desirable to indicate the pronunciation of one of the inflected forms:
3 spell  vb  spelled \'speld\;  spell·ing
fat·ten ...  vb  fat·tened; fat·ten·ing \'fat-nn, -en-n\
Cutback inflected forms are often used when the verb has three or more syllables, when it is a disyllable that ends in  -l and has variant spellings, and when it is a compound whose second element is readily recognized as an irregular verb:
2 ded·i·cate ...  vt  -cat·ed; -cat·ing
2 carol  vb  -oled  or  -olled; -ol·ing  or  -ol·ling
be·speak ...  vt  -spoke ...;  -spo·ken ...;  -speak·ing
The principal parts of verbs are usually not shown when the base word is unchanged by suffixation or when the verb is a compound whose second element is readily recognizable as a regular free form entered at its own place:
1 walk ...  vb
dis·sat·is·fy ...  vt
Another inflected form of English verbs is the third person singular of the present tense, which is regularly formed by the addition of  -s or  -es to the base form of the verb. This inflected form is not shown except at a handful of entries (as  have and  do ) for which it is in some way anomalous.



ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS
The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs are shown in this dictionary when suffixation brings about a doubling of a final consonant or an elision of a final  -e or a change of final  -y to  -i-, when the word ends in  -ey, when the inflection is irregular, and when there are variant inflected forms:
1 mad ...  adj  mad·der; mad·dest
1 bare ...  adj  bar·er; bar·est
1 pret·ty ...  adj  pret·ti·er; -est
1 ear·ly ...  adv  ear·li·er; -est
hom·ey ...  adj  hom·i·er; -est
1 good ...  adj  bet·ter ...;  best
2 ill  adv  worse; worst
1 shy ...  adj  shi·er  or  shy·er ...;  shi·est  or  shy·est
The superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs of two or more syllables are usually cut back:
2 timely  adj  time·li·er; -est
2 easy  adv  eas·i·er; -est
The comparative and superlative forms of regularly inflected adjectives and adverbs are shown when it is desirable to indicate the pronunciation of the inflected forms:
1 long \'lo«n\  adj  lon·ger \'lo«n-ger  also -er\;  lon·gest \'lo«n-gest  also -est\
The inclusion of inflected forms in  -er and  -est at adjective and adverb entries means nothing more about the use of  more and  most with these adjectives and adverbs than that their comparative and superlative degrees may be expressed in either way;  lazier or  more lazy; laziest or  most lazy.

At a few adjective entries only the superlative form is shown:
3 mere ...  adj, superlative  mer·est
The absence of the comparative form indicates that there is no evidence of its use.

The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs are not shown when the base word is unchanged by suffixation or when the word is a compound whose second element is readily recognizable as a regular free form entered at its own place:
crass ...  adj
un·hap·py ...  adj
The comparative and superlative forms of adverbs are not shown when they are identical with the inflected forms of a preceding adjective homograph:
1 hot ...  adj  hot·ter; hot·test
2 hot  adv