{"id":26872,"date":"2017-07-14T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T16:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/?p=26872"},"modified":"2017-07-06T09:30:07","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T13:30:07","slug":"did-you-know-apple-hid-huge-reference-books-in-your-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.computeradvantage.us\/v3\/did-you-know-apple-hid-huge-reference-books-in-your-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"Did You Know Apple Hid Huge Reference Books in Your Mac?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re probably used to Mac apps using red underlines to mark misspelled words, but did you know that macOS has long included a fully featured Dictionary app as well? It provides quick access to definitions and synonyms in the <\/span>New Oxford American Dictionary<\/span><\/i> and the <\/span>Oxford American Writer\u2019s Thesaurus<\/span><\/i>, along with definitions of Apple-specific words like <\/span>AppleCare<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>MacTCP.<\/span><\/i> But that\u2019s far from all it can do.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s make sure we\u2019re all on the same page. Launch the Dictionary app from your Applications folder and then type a word or phrase into the Search field. As you type, Dictionary starts looking up words that match what you\u2019ve typed so far\u2014you don\u2019t even have to press Return. If more than one word matches what you\u2019ve typed, click the desired word in the sidebar.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Notice the lozenges below the toolbar, representing the references that Dictionary can consult, and no, your eyes aren\u2019t deceiving you\u2014Dictionary can look things up in Wikipedia if your Mac has an Internet connection. In short, Dictionary gives you instant access to a dictionary, a thesaurus, and an encyclopedia containing over 5.4 million articles in English alone! You can click a reference\u2019s lozenge to limit your search, or select All to scan all of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you want to look up words in another language, or even just British English, Dictionary has you covered, with a long list of other reference works. Choose Dictionary > Preferences and select those you\u2019d like to use. You can drag the selected entries into the order you want their lozenges to appear below the toolbar.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Once you\u2019re in a definition, note that you can copy text for use in other apps\u2014always helpful when wading into grammar and usage arguments on the Internet. More generally, you can click any word in Dictionary\u2019s main pane to look it up instantly. If dictionaries had been this much fun in school, we\u2019d have larger vocabularies! Use the Back and Forward arrow buttons to navigate among your recently looked-up words.<\/span><\/p>\n

As helpful as the Dictionary app is, you probably don\u2019t want to leave it running all the time. Happily, Apple has provided quite a few shortcut methods for looking up words:<\/span><\/p>\n