Merriam Webster slacking?

So I wanted a very accurate definition for a pet project I'm writing, and looked up the very accurate definition of "syllable" which I found right here. If readers will kindly look at the first definition in the list, specifically the first part: "a unit of spoken language that is next bigger than a speech sound and consists of one or more vowel sounds alone or of a syllabic consonant alone or of either with one or more consonant sounds preceding or following" (emphasis mine)

I stared at it a bit dumbfounded the first time I saw it. Surely I must be reading something wrong. I even dumbed it down for my dumbfoundedness just to test how awful it was. "a dog that is next larger than a dog..." I even called in the grammatical guru of the household, who likewise found it at the very best, an atrociously constructed bit of phrasing.

Maybe it just me (or us at this point) but reference material, especially reference material on the subject of words and things, should be impeccable in the realm of - well - words and things.