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
n. 1. a. A side view of an object or structure, especially of the human head. b. A representation of an object or structure seen from the side. See Synonyms at form. 2. An outline of an object. See Synonyms at outline. 3. Degree of exposure to public notice; visibility: preferred to keep a low profile. 4. A biographical account presenting the subject's most noteworthy characteristics and achievements. 5. a. A set of characteristics that identify or are thought to identify a particular type of person: The police assembled a profile of the car thief. b. A formal summary or analysis of data, often in the form of a graph or table, representing distinctive features or characteristics: a biochemical profile of blood. 6. Geology A vertical section of soil or rock showing the sequence of the various layers. tr.v. pro·filed, pro·fil·ing, pro·files 1. To draw or shape a profile of. 2. To produce a profile of: profiled the singer in a magazine article. 3. To engage in the ethnic or racial profiling of (a person). [Italian profilo, from profilare, to draw in outline : pro-, forward (from Latin prō-; see PRO-1) + filare, to draw a line (from Medieval Latin fīlāre, to spin, from Latin fīlum, thread; see gwhī- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] profil·er n.  (click for a larger image) profilec. 1475 Portrait of a Young Woman by Antonio del Pollaiolo (1430?-1498) |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
