four-volume dictionary designed to define usage of words and phrases in American English as it differed from usage in England and other English-speaking countries, as well as to show how the cultural and natural history of the United States is reflected in its language. It was published from 1936 to 1944. Compiled under the editorship of Sir William A. Craigie, who had been a coeditor of The Oxford English Dictionary, and James R. Hulbert, an American professor of English, the dictionary includes American words and expressions from the period extending from the first English settlements until the end of the 19th century. It provides dated illustrative quotations for most entries.