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The BEST way to use dictionary - Seriously!

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James Philp

James Philp

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 5, 2005
1,493
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Oxford/London
I'm posting this because people seem to still be using the Dictionary Dashboard Widget. There is a MUCH better way (in browsers, mail, apple apps etc)
Here's what you do:

1. Open up the dictionary app in Applications (note DO NOT move it to another (nested) folder - it needs to be in the Applications folder only)
2. Go to preferences and make sure "Open Dictionary panel" is checked
3. Close the app.
4. Now hold down ctrl-apple and hit D. Keep the ctrl-apple held down and then move your mouse over a certain word like: improvement
5. Voila - one of the best thing ever!
See attachments for this working!
 

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Yeah, this has already become one of my favorite Tiger features - it doesn't work in everything, but it is almost universal.
 
jsw said:
Yeah, this has already become one of my favorite Tiger features - it doesn't work in everything, but it is almost universal.
Click to expand...
Of course, it doesn't work in MS Office - like it ever would - GRrrrrr
 
rendezvouscp said:
What are those options?
-Chase
Click to expand...
control-⌘-D on the words for the definitions! ;)

BTW, can anyone figure out how to get a screenshot of the dictionary popup in action? Seems to disappear whenever I try.
 
jsw said:
control-?-D on the words for the definitions! ;)

BTW, can anyone figure out how to get a screenshot of the dictionary popup in action? Seems to disappear whenever I try.
Click to expand...

Use Timed Screen with Grab.
 
Try this:
Command-Shift-4, followed by Command-Control-D, then click on a word; the definition will pop-up. Now mouse over other words and the definitions will pop-up like rollover buttons. =P
Click on a non-text area to turn off the mouse-over behavior.
 
snickelfritz said:
Try this:
Command-Shift-4, followed by Command-Control-D, then click on a word; the definition will pop-up. Now mouse over other words and the definitions will pop-up like rollover buttons. =P
Click on a non-text area to turn off the mouse-over behavior.
Click to expand...
not as useful IMO as just command-control-D (then hold down command-control) and just mouse over words.
 
James Philp said:
(note DO NOT move it to another (nested) folder - it needs to be in the Applications folder only)
Click to expand...
Thanks James – I knew about this feature but couldn't for the life of me get it to work. I like to tidy away my apps into neat little folders but didn't realise it would break the dictionary. I've moved it back and problem solved!
 
mkrishnan said:
True, but Office already had its own one before Tiger....
Click to expand...
Sorry but the office one sucks! I have to ctrl-click, get a bunch of options (about formatting yada yada yada) and then go to dictionary, it then opens up a separate panel (as it always does) and has the definition then - rubbish implementation! You can't just mouse over words like with the apple version.
 
Jaffa Cake said:
Thanks James – I knew about this feature but couldn't for the life of me get it to work. I like to tidy away my apps into neat little folders but didn't realise it would break the dictionary. I've moved it back and problem solved!
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's a bugger. Hopefully a small fix in the future.
 
Just for clarification, this only works in Cocoa applications right? That's what I think determines whether this will work or not.
 
James Philp said:
Sorry but the office one sucks! I have to ctrl-click, get a bunch of options (about formatting yada yada yada) and then go to dictionary, it then opens up a separate panel (as it always does) and has the definition then - rubbish implementation! You can't just mouse over words like with the apple version.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's true. It's also been around for a year and a half though! ;)
 
sourcemonkey said:
thanks for the tip. it will be of use, but i generally use the widget-dictionary before i type the word (if i don't know the spelling)... copy... paste... done.

The best way NOT to use the dictionary is to read more.
Click to expand...

You can also right (ctrl) click on a word and select define, it pops up with the dictionary app. P.S. You can now print documents from the finder via contextual menu :)
 
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