Best dictionary?

[Star555]

What do you think is the best dictionary for university-educated, adult native English speakers? These days I always just Google any unknown words because it's quick and I'm lazy, but I've been thinking that it'd be nice to have a user-friendly, comprehensive, up-to-date physical dictionary on my desk as I used to when I was a school student. I do still have my old Oxford dictionary tucked away on a shelf somewhere, but haven't reached for it in ages!

I think I'd like an authoritative (probably Oxford) but user-friendly dictionary that is a single volume, has a decent font size, and is suitable for an university-educated audience that reads widely -- from classic English literature to modern popular science (anything, really, at a non-specialist level). I don't want to buy the entire 20 volume OED of course!

Collins.

You know the OED comes in a 2-volume version with teeny-tiny print? I just to dream of having that.

I'm fine with my old, old Webster, which I like because it used to belong to my father and he'd written his name in it. Like you, I'm lazy enough to settle for online quickie definitions, but I do love my hefty Synonym Dictionary and my ratty thesaurus.

You know the OED comes in a 2-volume version with teeny-tiny print? I just to dream of having that.

My dad had the version of that that came with its own magnifying glass. I used to love being allowed to look things up in that. A tremendous faff for everyday though.

Chambers

Chambers is best for literary or archaic language, Collins for modern & technical language. Collins publish a wide variety of dictionaries though, it can be easy to buy a smaller concise version by mistake