Monday, May 3, 2010

A great little free dictionary to use with Kindle for PC app (Windows)

In the recent blog article on the updated Kindle for PC app, I wrote that there was no in-line dictionary yet like the one on the Kindle itself, with the summary definition at the bottom of the Kindle screen for the word your cursor might be on and the ability to get the full definition and etymology via the American Oxford Dictionary.  I missed that.

Jerry wrote in the comments area:
  "For a dictionary on Kindle for PC, I would strongly recommend installing WordWeb (http://wordweb.info/).  It has hotkey functionality which allows you to look up any word instantly, from inside any Windows application.  It works great with the Kindle for PC.  (I am not affiliated with the product.)"

So I tried it out, as I've enjoyed WordWeb in the past.  The free version of this memory-resident program takes up very little memory and processing power and works with everything I've tried, whether just browsing or writing this entry in an editing box.  The default 'hot-key' is ctrl-alt-w or the more intuitive Ctrl-right-click.  However, I changed it, in the Options menu, to Ctrl-left-click, which is just more natural for me. The definition box comes up in an instant and, while it doesn't provide etymology of a word as the Kindle's does, it gives a decent amount of information.

  As their website says, "...each set of synonyms is linked to other related sets.  Look up "tree", click on the "Types" tab and you'll have a list of different types of tree.  Click on "Part of" and WordWeb will tell you that a tree can be part of a "forest" or "wood".

  The free version is fully functional and can be used freely beyond 30 days under one, unusual, condition.  They ask that the user  take no more than two commercial flights (not more than one return flight) in any 12 month period, to help cut down on global greenhouse gas emissions.  You can read their full expanation of that here.  For frequent travelers, they ask that people buy the 'Pro' version instead.
A comparison between the free version and the Pro 6 edition ($19).
FREE VERSION
The comprehensive English thesaurus and dictionary includes:
Definitions and synonyms
Proper nouns
Related words
5000 audio pronunciations
150 000 root words
220 000 word senses
Fixed web reference tabs
WORDWEB PRO 6
In addition to all the free version features, the full Pro version includes 5000 more definitions and numerous extra features including:
70 000 audio pronunciations
Custom web references
Custom glossaries
Optional third-party dictionaries
Wildcard word search
Full text definition search
Find and solve anagrams
Search optional word lists
Personally, I'm happy with the Free version.
Here's their FAQ.

Optional dictionaries include the New American Oxford Dictionary and the Oxford Dictionary of English, and if you're ordering any extras, then you need to click on the "show all" link in the line about optional dictionaries.  I find the ordering page and pricing for the pro version and assorted extras a bit confusing.

  Again, I'm fine with the free version, which I already find amazing for a free program.  Thanks to Jerry for the tip!



 See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
  Check often: Latest free non-classics, shortcut http://bit.ly/latestfreenonclassics.) Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

4 comments:

  1. I just installed it and it's absolutely fantastic! Thanks for the tip, Andrys.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elmo,
    So good to see your name again.

    Yah, I love WordWeb too - just gets better and better. And special thanks to 'Jerry' for that tip for us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. it does NOT work with kindle for windows 8 : ctl alt W leaves the Kindle screen. Moreover, the book I read (and any other ?) is graphical, so, Wordweb does not recognize words correctly, like "anatoly" instead of "anatomy" !!!

    ReplyDelete

NOTE: TO AVOID SPAM being posted instantly, this blog uses the blogger.com "DELAY" feature.

Am often away much of the day, and postings won't show up right away. Posts done to use referrer-links may never show up.

Usually, am online enough to release comments within a day though, so the hard-to-read match-text tests for commenting won't be needed this way.

Feedback and questions are welcome. Thanks for participating.

Technical Problems?
If you're having problems leaving a Comment, Google's blogger-help asks that you clear the 'blogger.com' cookies on your browser's Tools or Options menu bar and that will fix the Comment-box problems (until they have a permanent fix).

IF that doesn't work either, then UNcheck the "keep me signed in" box -- Google-help says that should allow your comment to post (it's a workaround to a current bug).
Apologies for the problems.

TIP: There's a size limit. If longer than 3500 characters or so, in a text editor, make two posts out of it.

[Valid RSS]