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7. CLEAR THE WORD.
Once the misunderstood is found it must be fully cleared in the dictionary. The person will be hung up on the definition of the word as it is used in the context of what is being word cleared, which will not necessarily be the first definition given in the dictionary. To try and clear any other definition before clearing the one he is stuck in would cause him to try and clear a word over misunderstoods. Therefore, he would rapidly go over the definitions to find the one that fits the context and clear that first. Then the remaining definitions would be cleared.
This is how a word is cleared:
The first step is to look rapidly over the definitions to find the one which applies to the context in which the word was misunderstood.
The student reads the definition of the word aloud to the Word Clearer. (This is a wonderful place to catch some misunderstoods.) If there are any words in the definition that the student does not understand, they are first fully cleared. When the student understands all the words in the definition and understands the definition itself, he tells the Word Clearer, IN HIS OWN WORDS, what the definition means.
The student makes up sentences using the word correctly until he is very comfortable using the word. The sentences must show he knows how to use the word in the sense of the definition he’s just cleared.
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It is important for the student to use each definition of the word in enough sentences. Usually, one sentence for each definition of the word is not enough. The student may need to make up ten sentences, or even more, before he really understands a word and how to use it.
Then one clears each of the other definitions of that word, using each in sentences until one has a conceptual understanding of each definition.
The next thing to do is to clear the derivation – which is the explanation of where the word came from originally. This will help gain a basic understanding of the word.
Don’t clear the technical or specialized definitions (math, biology, etc.) or obsolete (no longer used) or archaic (ancient and no longer in general use) definitions unless the word is being used that way in the context where it was misunderstood.
Most dictionaries give the idioms of a word. An idiom is a phrase or expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the ordinary meanings of the words. For example, “give in” is an English idiom meaning “yield.” Quite a few words in English have idiomatic uses and these are usually given in a dictionary after the definitions of the word itself. These idioms have to be cleared.
One must also clear any other information given about the word, such as notes on its usage, synonyms, etc., so as to have a full understanding of the word.
If one encounters a misunderstood word or symbol in the definition of a word being cleared, one must clear it right away using this same procedure and then return to the definition one was clearing. (Dictionary symbols and abbreviations are usually given in the front of the dictionary.)
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