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Reading a Definition

Basic entries

A straightforward entry looks like this:

RETINA	a membrane of the eye [n. -NAS or -NAE]

Part-of-speech abbreviations

Inflected forms — the < ROOT, prefix

Inflected forms (plurals, past tenses, comparatives, etc.) show their base word:

RETINAS    < RETINA, [n. -NAS or -NAE] · a membrane of the eye

The < RETINA, tells you that RETINAS is an inflection of RETINA.

Look up the root word for the full entry.

Multiple parts of speech

Some words function as more than one part of speech. Each additional sense

appears after / ----- on the same definition line:

COW    [n. -S or KINE°] · a farm animal
       / ----- [v. -ED, -ING, -S] · to intimidate

This also shows that COW has an irregular plural KINE.

Irregular inflections and the ° marker

When ° follows a word in the inflection list, that form can also take an

-S:

AGE    [v. AGED, AGING° or AGEING°, AGES] · to grow old

Both AGINGS and AGEINGS are valid words.

Alternate spellings — the { } block

When a word has valid alternate spellings, they appear in a curly-brace block.

Groups within the block are separated by §, which divides different

grammatical forms (singular from plural, present from past tense, etc.):

AGING    { ageing aging § ageings agings … }
         / [n. -S] · the process of growing old

EYRIE    { aerie aery eyrie eyry § aeries eyries … }
         / [n. -S] · aerie «a bird's nest built high on a mountain or cliff»

All words listed in a { } block are valid in tournament play.

Cross-references — «...»

When a definition refers to another word by name, that word's definition is

shown inline in angle quotes so you don't have to look it up separately:

ACTINIAN    [n. -S] · actinia «a marine animal»

ACTINIAN means the same thing as ACTINIA; the «…» supplies ACTINIA's

definition on the spot.