Read Chapter One Who says there's nothing new under the sun?

If you need a synonym for a word, you look in a thesaurus. But what if you need a synonym for a phrase, such as "flower child," "buckle down," "sports arena" or "crowning achievement?" You could try to track down a synonym in a thesaurus by looking up one word in the phrase, then sifting through the synonyms in hopes that one or two apply to your phrase. That might work...

Or you could use Roget's Thesuurus of Phrases and get the synonym you want immediately. Organized alphabetically in a traditional thesaurus format, this one-of-a-kind, authoritative reference offers over 10,000 multiword entries and synonyms to help you avoid repetitions and cliches and to make your writing more precise.

It can also be useful for crossword puzzles and Internet searches, in which a key phrase may not pull all the desired information. The Roget's Thesaurus of Phrases will help you find more information with less effort. Isn't that what it's all about?

From the Introduction

The main difference between having a copy of Roget's Thesaurus of Phrases and having a copy of a thesaurus that includes phrases as synonyms for single words is accessibility. You cannot look up close synonyms for phrases in a regular thesaurus. You can get to the synonyms for phrases only by locating an entry for a single word first. For example, "flower arrangement" has the close synonym of "floral decoration," but it cannot be found in the index of a thesaurus. It is listed under "arrangement" in the category "ornamentation." Roget's Thesaurus of Phrases will make finding synonyms for phrases much simpler.

Think of all the collocations--words that are commonly used together--that you cannot look up in standard reference books. Think of "consumer credit" and "flight path." Think of "sports arena" and "buffer zone." Where can you go to find another way of saying these phrases? Collocations and other types of phrases are very important in our language, and they are the keystone to looking up things electronically.

Roget's Thesaurus of Phrases works as a reverse dictionary, too. It will help you get from an idea to the phrase or word you want to use. In many cases, you might be starting with a phrase that expresses your idea, but not in the specific way you desire. Roget's Thesaurus of Phrases reverses the lookup to get you to the right phrase or word.

This book is for businesspeople, journalists, authors, crossword puzzlers, information retrievers, students and word lovers. Phrases have been left out long enough. Now they have a place.

Everyone has experienced the frustration of not being able to rephrase something or find the word or phrase you want. Another phrasing or the right word can enable you to do so much more, and Roget's Thesaurus of Phrases will help you find it.

About the Author

Dr. Barbara Ann Kipfer is the author of twenty-two books, including The Writer's Digest Flip Dictionary; Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus; 21st Century Spelling Dictionary; 21st Century Manual of Style; The Order of Things; Dictionary of American Slang, 3rd Edition; Sisson's Word and Expression Locator and the best-selling 14,000 Things to be Happy About. Dr. Kipfer holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics, a Ph.D. in Archaeology, a M.S. in Linguistics and a B.S. in Physical Education. She is currently working on a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies. She has worked for companies such as idealab, Mindmaker, General Electric Research, IBM Research, Wang, Bellcore and Knowledge Adventure. She lives in Ivoryton, Connecticut.