Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Yosemite Edition

Dictionary

For word nerds everywhere, the Dictionary (and thesaurus) is a blessing—a handy way to look up word definitions, pronunciations, and synonyms (Figure 19-11). To be precise, OS X comes with electronic versions of multiple reference works in one:

Figure 19-11. When you open the Dictionary, it generally assumes that you want a word’s definition (lower left). If you prefer to see the Wikipedia entry (top right) at startup time instead, for example, choose Dictionary→Preferences—and drag Wikipedia upward so that it precedes New Oxford American Dictionary. That’s all there is to it!

• The entire New Oxford American Dictionary. The third edition, actually. You’ll note that its entries give you more examples and background.

• The complete Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus.

• Two venerable guides to British English: the Oxford Dictionary of English and Oxford Thesaurus of English.

• A dictionary of Apple terms, from “A/UX” to “Xsan.” (Apparently there aren’t any Apple terms that begin with Y or Z.)

• Wikipedia. This famous citizen-created encyclopedia isn’t actually on your Mac. Dictionary just gives you an easy way to search the online version, and display the results right in the comfy Dictionary window.

• Foreign language dictionaries: Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Korean, Italian, and Chinese.

Tip

You don’t ordinarily see these reference books. You have to turn them on in Dictionary→Preferences. ...