Ministry of the higher and secondary special education of the republic of uzbekistan state world languages university

 
is synonymous with 
to gain a victory
, 
etc. 
Here we proceed from the assumption that the terms synonymy and 
synonyms should be confined to semantic relation between words only. Similar 
relations between word-groups and sentences are described as semantic 
44
Ginzburg R.S. et al, A Course in Modern English Lexicology.- М.: Высшая школа, 1979. - p. 55

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49 
equivalence. Synonyms may be found in different parts of speech and both 
among notional and function words. For example, 
though
and 
albeit 
are 
synonymous because these phonemically different words are similar in their 
denotational meaning. 
Synonyms are traditionally described as words different in sound-form but 
identical or similar in meaning. This definition has been severely criticised on 
many points. Firstly, it seems impossible to speak of identical or similar 
meaning of words as such, as this part of the definition cannot be applied to 
polysemantic words. It is inconceivable that polysemantic words could be 
synonymous in all their meanings. The verb look, e.g., is usually treated as a 
synonym of
see, watch, observe
, 
etc., but in another of its meanings it is not 
synonymous with this group of words but rather with the verbs 
seem, appear
 
(cf. 
to look at smb 
and
to look pale).
 
The number of synonymic sets of a 
polysemantic word tends as a rule to be equal to the number of individual 
meanings the word possesses. 
And here again is an example of how a great writer may use synonyms for 
stylistic purposes. In this extract from 
Death of a Hero 
R. Aldington describes a 
group of survivors painfully retreating after a defeat in battle: 
"... The Frontshires [name of battalion] 
staggered
rather than 
walked down
the 
bumpy trench ... About fifty men, the flotsam of the wrecked battalion, 
stumbled
past them .... They 
shambled
heavily along, not keeping step or 
attempting to, bent wearily forward under the weight of their equipment, their 
unseeing eyes turned to the muddy ground." 
In this extract the verb 
to walk 
is used with its three synonyms, each of 
which describes the process of walking in its own way. In contrast to 
walk 
the 
other three words do not merely convey the bare idea of going on foot but 
connote the manner of walking as well. 
Stagger 
means "to sway while walking" 
and, also, implies a considerable, sometimes painful, effort. 
Stumble, 
means "to 
walk tripping over uneven ground and nearly falling." 
Shamble 
implies dragging 
one's feet while walking; a physical effort is also connoted by the word. 

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50 
The use of all these synonyms in the extract creates a vivid picture of 
exhausted, broken men marching from the battle-field and enhances the general 
atmosphere of defeat and hopelessness. 
A carefully chosen word from a group of synonyms is a great asset not 
only on the printed page but also in a speaker's utterance. It was Mark Twain 
who said that the difference between the right word and just the right word is the 
difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug. 
The skill to choose the most suitable word in every context and every 
situation is an essential part of the language learning process. Students should be 
taught both to discern the various connotations in the meanings of synonyms and 
to choose the word appropriate to each context. 
Synonymy is associated with some theoretical problems which at present 
are still an object of controversy.
In modern research on synonyms