Cambridge Dictionary of American English

Language matters. Using the right word in the right way lets you express what it is you are trying to say. As Mark Twain wrote in The Art of Authorship, The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter - His the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. It is certainly true that being hit by a small insect (a lightning bug, also known as a firefly) is very different than being hit by a flash of electricity! The best tool for making sure you have chosen the right word is the dictionary. This dictionary has been very carefully put together to make sure users can find the right word and the right meaning of that word. In English, where many words have more than one main meaning, it can be especially difficult to choose the right one. Most people just look at the first definition when they look up a word, so the Cambridge Dictionary of American English has a separate entry for each main meaning if a word has more than one sense. These meanings are marked by a guideword, so users can quickly see which definition is the one they are looking for, as in these entries for the word lap.