Definition and collocation are both important in vocabulary learning and teaching. Definition is concerned with establishing a single word's meaning, whereas collocation takes definition for granted and is concerned with the words that typically appear with any particular word: the verbs that might occur with a noun, for example. Such collocational information often enables a word to be used.
In this paper, I examine definition and collocation as they relate to our presentations and dictionaries. It is my hope that, after reading this paper, teachers will be better able to assess the relative weight they pay to definition and collocation in their vocabulary presentations and explanations, and adjust their teaching accordingly, if necessary.