Webster gives the final word on definitions

I love dictionaries, but I have to admit that lately I’ve been looking up words on the Internet because finding words in the dictionary takes time – an excuse used by generations of schoolchildren. But all the words I want aren’t yet online, at least not where I usually look. I’ve been told they’re probably there someplace, but finding the word in the dictionary is quicker and much less frustrating than searching the Internet, seeing that I am very low tech, and plan to stay that way. The word that sent me back to my favorite, and well-worn, American Heritage Dictionary was “springe.” It is a perfectly good word – granted, one not used very often – but my Internet site said it didn’t exist, that it wasn’t a real word. For those of you who aren’t in the habit of trapping rabbits (something I never did, either), a springe is a trap consisting of a noose attached to the underside of bushes under tension. It is an Old English word, and trapping rabbits was done a lot in the Middle Ages, when the word originated. But time isn’t the only problem with looking up words – it’s all of the other interesting words along the way that distract me from my original goal. If my American Heritage fails me, I have a Random House unabridged. But all of this got me interested in the origin of dictionaries. The dictionary is the work of Noah Webster (1758-1843).