HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY
To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.
Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.
THE USAGE PANEL
The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.
AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP
The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG
The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.
INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?
Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com
American physiologist who did pioneering research on the autonomic nervous system, including the fight-or-flight response, and developed the concept of homeostasis. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
Can·non  (kănən), Annie Jump 1863-1941.
Share:
Tweet American astronomer noted for her work on classifying stellar spectra.  (click for a larger image) Annie Jump Cannonphotographed c. 1922 |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
| n. pl. cannonor can·nons 1. A weapon, typically mounted, that fires heavy projectiles from a cylindrical barrel. Cannons include guns, howitzers, and mortars. 2. The loop at the top of a bell by which it is hung. 3. A round bit for a horse. 4. Zoology The section of the lower leg in some hoofed mammals between the hock or knee and the fetlock, containing the cannon bone. 5. Chiefly British A carom made in billiards. v. can·noned, can·non·ing, can·nons v. tr. 1. To bombard with cannon. 2. Chiefly British To cause to carom in billiards. v. intr. 1. To fire cannon. 2. Chiefly British To make a carom in billiards. [Middle English canon, from Old French, from Old Italian cannone, augmentative of canna, tube, from Latin, reed; see CANE.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
