Dictionary Game for Teachers

1. Print out and cut up the table below into individual cells. You need one copy for each group of about four or five students in your class. It's a good idea to print out on each set on different coloured paper so you don't confuse the sets.
2. The abbreviations are from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and the Longman Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Students will need access to these.
3. Give one set of pieces of paper to each group of students. Put the set face-down in the middle of the group.
4. One student picks up a piece of paper from the top of the pile. If they know the meaning of the abbreviation or can say the word in phonemic script they get to keep the piece of paper. The winner is the student with the most pieces of paper at the end.
5. If the first student doesn't know the meaning, they put the piece of paper face-up in the middle of table. The first student to get the correct meaning or pronunciation gets the piece of paper.
6. If none of the students know, the first student to find the answer in a dictionary or their notes gets the piece of paper.

N.B. Make sure the students can't read the words through the face-down pieces of paper.

abbr

adj

masc

prep

pron

neg

sb

sing

U

C

derog

fem

fml

infml

US

v

~

dated

euph

rhet

/kæt/

/ðIs/

phr v

sth

Am E

n Am e

||

/ ' /

[I]

[T]

abbr - abbreviation (O)

adj - adjective (O) (L)

masc - masculine (O)

prep - preposition (O) (L)

pron - pronoun (O) (L)

neg - negative (O)

sb - somebody (O)/ someone (L)

sing - singular (O)

derog - Derogatory (O)

C - Countable noun (O)
[C] - Countable noun (L)

U - Uncountable noun (O)
[U] - Uncountable noun (L)

fem - feminine (O)

fml - formal (O)

infml - informal (O)

US - American usage (O)
US - United States of America (L)

v - verb (O) (L)

~ replaces the headword of an entry (O)

dated - old-fashioned (O)

euph - euphemistic (O)

rhet - rhetorical (O)

/kæt/ - cat (O)

/ðIs/ - this (O)

sl - slang (O)

sth - something (O) (L)

phr v - phrasal verb (L)

AmE - American English (L)

|| separates British (on the left) and American (on the right) pronunciations (L)

/ ' / - stress mark (O) (L)

[I] - Intransitive verb (L)

[T] - Transitive Verb (L)