2) The Thesaurus doesn't just give synonyms, but related words too. Most of the time, you'll be looking for another way of expressing a particular idea, and the Thesaurus will give you a carefully-selected list of similar words and phrases. But some types of word don't have synonyms. There aren't really any synonyms for cottage, for example, but cottage belongs to a lexical set of words for buildings that people live in – words like house, apartment, mansion, and condo. So when you're looking at a word for a concrete object – a plant, an animal, a machine, or a building, for example – the thesaurus provides a list of related words.
Try looking up tennis or palm tree, for example, and you'll see a list of all the words to do with tennis or the words for types of tree.
(3) Finally, the Thesaurus provides definitions for the words it lists. It's hard to choose exactly the right word if all you see is a list, so every word or phrase in our Thesaurus comes with a full definition to help you make the right choice.
The meaning of thesaurus
The term thesaurus comes from an Ancient Greek word meaning 'treasure trove' or 'storehouse'. Macmillan Dictionary's free online English thesaurus is exactly that! More than just a list of synonyms, it draws distinctions between similar words and helps you choose just the word you need. Explore and enjoy!