This book analyses Noah Webster's and Samuel Johnson's use of verbal examples in their dictionaries as a means of giving guidance on word usage. The author's major interest lies in elucidating how uniquely Webster, who was originally a grammarian, made use of verbal examples. In order to achieve this purpose, the author provides chapters based on types of entry words in their functional contexts. Johnson's selection of sources of citations and the frequency of his quoting citations tended to vary strongly according to the type of entry word; he also supplied invented examples rather than...