Does anyone know what word has the most distinct definitions in the standard American English dictionary? Before we get into a debate on which dictionary, let’s just say the Cambridge Dictionary of American English.
Any ideas?
Set.
I thought RUN has the record but I think SET is in Guinness.
The entry for “Set” in the Oxford English Dictionary is the length of a small novel.
From a different dictionary: in Webster’s Third, set takes up a full page, but take consumes almost 2 pages. I didn’t figure out[sup]1[/sup] which has the most definititions, but I’m pretty sure take takes the cake there too.
[sup]1[/sup]It’s more complicated than just looking at the number of the last definition.
PS Since when is a dictionary published by Cambridge University Press a “standard” American dictionary?
Damn, somehow I knew this thread would turn into the “which dictionary” debate. I really don’t think the publisher of the dictionary matters as the site given by commasense shows, “set” blows away “run”.
I too always thought it was “run”.
OK, now we can morph this thread into the “which dictionary is the best dictionary for the American English language” thread 
Gee, I am away from my dictionary, but I thought “jack” was the winner.
Paul, here is something from the 1974 “Guinness Book”:
*
Most Meanings: The most overworked word in English is the word “jack” which has 10 main substantive uses with 40 sub-uses and two verbal uses.*
I have NO idea what they are talking about but maybe this is the reference you were thinking of?
Later editions of Guinness list “SET” as the record-holder.
The problem was that you wanted to know about American English, but then selected a dictionary published by a British publisher. Yes, I know it was meant as a dictionary of American English, it’s still a British publisher.
The publisher does matter. As I indicated above, one major American dictionary publisher dedicates more space to take than to set. I will note that M-W continues to devote more space to ‘take’ than ‘set’ in their recent college dictionaries.
Looking at a different American dictionary, Random House Unabridged (2nd ed), one finds that run has 179 definitions (just looking at the number of the last definition does work in RHUD), while take has 124 and set only 119. This may be where the idea of ‘run’ having the most comes from.
The OED (as cited above) is a fine dictionary (in fact I own a CD version of it), but it’s also a historical dictionary. That means it contains definitions that have long been obsolete. It was also published in England and sometimes misses American words and definitions.
Well then shouldn’t Guiness (although British) be considered the definitive authority ? In that case “SET” is the word.
My point is that there is no definitive answer. It depends on which dictionary you choose.
One thing to consider about definitions is that there’s a certain amount of variability about them. What I mean is that in unabridged dictionaries, the lexicographers like to make very fine distinctions between the various usages for a given word. This makes for lots and lots of definitions. However, if they need to conserve space for other words, they can remove two or more definitions with closely related meanings and replace them with a single, more generally-written one. Or they can leave out some of the older ones that haven’t been current in centuries.
My small paperback Random House Webster’s Dictionary has 48 entries for set and 51 for take but what prompted me to open this thread was my guess that the teeny tiny two letter word UP would beat out all comers. Although UP checks in with a mere 38 entries it does beat set and take by the ratio of definitons per letter. Nineteen.
English is such a funny language, isn’t it?
I stand corrected. Now I have learned something today, that fact that it does matter which dictionary you site when you ask the OP question.