Everybody needs a dictionary. You may have a tattered familiar volume, a hardcover dictionary from your student days, or a paperback book bought at a bargain price. But you don’t have to buy a dictionary, you can go online and discover a universe of words and fun.
Looking for a Spanish translation? Go online. Do you need a definition of a cockney word? Go online. Wondering about a Chinese symbol? Go online. Before visiting an online dictionary, you need to prepare for the “journey.” Have a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of water, and a healthy snack, because once you start reading dictionaries, you will be engrossed for hours.
Get started with “OneLook Dictionary Search”, a fascinating website with 6,257,269 indexed words from 993 dictionaries. Your options include a basic word search or a “wildcard pattern” search that matches any sequence of letters. The word “blue bird” is used as an example. To find the definition, you can enter “blue” or “bird” or “bl (here blank) rd”. There is also a reverse dictionary on the website. If you enter the phrase “when cancer spreads through the body,” for example, dozens of medical words will appear.
The “AlphaDictionary” website is just plain fun. A word of the day is published on the site and when I accessed it the word was “clear”. You can submit your own word of the day if you wish. If you get bored while looking up definitions, click on “AlphaDictionary Word Games” and do crosswords and “word jungles.”
Cambridge University Press has a website called “Cambridge Dictionaries Online”. You’ll find a variety of dictionaries on this site, plus dozens of “Online Worksheets and Activities.” I clicked on CLD, “Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary” related activities and found an alphabet trivia quiz, collection games showing how words are used together, multiple meanings, verb patterns, information on nouns, verbs and adjectives, “Rich and famous” crossword, and more.
There is also a list of “Top 40 Words of 2004” on this site. I learned that the word “advice” has held its place as number one. According to the University of Cambridge, “The only change in the top 6 is the fall of the ‘language’ from fourth place in 2003 to 17.” As a soccer mom supporting a young child on the team, I found myself supporting the “language” and hoping it would return to stardom.
The “TravLang Translates Dictionaries” website has dictionaries in more than 35 languages, including Hungarian, Polish, Esperanto, and Turkish. You will also find an AOL Translator link and online dictionary on this site. Many foreign language dictionaries, including this one, have advertisements, so be prepared.
“Webopedia” (I love the name) is both a dictionary and a search engine for Internet and technical definitions. I have used it several times and found it easy to use and concise. You will also find other unusual dictionaries on this site: South Asian dictionaries, Bible dictionaries, Gaelic dictionaries and more.
You’ll want to check out a comprehensive website called “The Internet Public Library.” One stop here offers you “strange and unusual dictionaries”, “VoyCabulary” (links to web pages or phrases to online references like dicitonaries) and even a dictionary of Chinese characters.
The next time you are stumped by a word, or need a break, or the kids have cabin fever, go online and visit online dictionaries. You will have fun, the children will have fun and everyone will learn new words and new things. What a great deal.
Copyright 2005 by Harriet Hodgson. To learn more about her work, visit http://www.harriethodgson.com.