Cambridge (US) Essential British English Dictionary AI Assistant Dictionary Translate Grammar Thesaurus +Plus Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out {{userName}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus My profile +Plus help Log out Log in / Sign up English (US) Essential British English Dictionary 1 ? true : false } }), searchAutoComplete.changeToLayoutContainer(); tap:AMP.setState({ stateSearch: { autocomplete: stateSearch.dataset != 'wordlists' && stateSearch.term.length 1 } })" / Essential British English 1) ? '/us/autocomplete/amp?dataset=' + stateSearch.dataset + '&q=' + stateSearch.term : 'https://'" 0 && stateHdr.searchDesk ? 'pa pdd chac tc-bd bw hbr-20 hbss lpt-25' : 'hdn'" {{word}} {{#beta}} Beta{{/beta}} {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{^selected}} {{name}} {{/selected}} {{/preferredDictionaries}} Essential British English Dictionary The Cambridge Essential British English Dictionary is ideal for learners of English who want to build confidence in using an English-only dictionary. It has the words, phrases, and collocations that beginning learners of British English need to know, with easy-to-understand definitions and audio pronunciations, and thousands of carefully chosen example sentences from the Cambridge English Corpus. Browse the Essential British English Dictionary a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Or, browse the Cambridge Dictionary index Key features The Cambridge Essential British English Dictionary is based on original research on the unique Cambridge English Corpus, and includes all the vocabulary that students need to know at CEFR A1–B1 levels from the English Vocabulary Profile. More than 18,000 simple definitions using words you know Hear the words spoken in British English Thousands of real examples show how words are used Ideal for newer learners of English (CEFR levels A1–B1) Based on the Cambridge English Corpus — a database of over 2 billion words Acknowledgements Chief Editor Colin McIntosh Editor Helen Waterhouse Blog Hitting the nail on the head: idioms with ‘hit’ July 22, 2026 Read More Word of the Day comfort zone UK Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio /ˈkʌm.fət ˌzəʊn/ US Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio /ˈkʌm.fɚt ˌzoʊn/ a situation in which you feel comfortable and in which your ability and determination are not being tested About this graduation creep" layout="responsive" graduation creep" class="lc1" / New Words graduation creep July 20, 2026 More new words Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Free word lists and quizzes to create, download and share! Go to + Plus or Log in You’re logged in. Start creating a word list or do a quiz! 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