Question

to define and trace the history of every single word in the english language—that was the ambitious goal of the philological society of london in 1857 when they set out to create what would eventually become the oxford english dictionary. in order to make the process of gathering information more efficient, the lead editor, james murray, used crowdsourcing. he asked, through advertisements and word of mouth, that volunteers around the english - speaking world send in definitions and documented uses of words. millions of submissions were received. the first edition of the dictionary was published in 1928, more than fifty years after the project was initially announced. the ten - volume edition covered more than four hundred thousand words and phrases, making it the most comprehensive dictionary of its time. because language constantly evolves, supplements have been added over the years to account for new words or changing meanings; in march 2014, for example, the words bestie and beat boxer were added. what is the meaning of ambitious as used in the passage? difficult to achieve verbal hardworking

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "ambitious" in the passage, we analyze the context. The goal was to define and trace the history of every single word in the English language, which is a very large and challenging task (it took over 50 years to publish the first edition). "Difficult to achieve" matches this context. "Verbal" relates to words/speech, not the nature of the goal. "Hardworking" describes a person's effort, not a goal's nature.

Answer:

difficult to achieve