Use A Definition To Find The Word With OneLook’s Reverse Dictionary

Saikat Basu — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:00:35 +0000

Have you ever been stuck thinking of a word? From somewhere at the back of your brain, it’s now at the tip of your tongue but you can’t “˜spill’ it out. A dictionary, as a word index is obvious. But in few cases, the reverse happens. The meaning is clear but the word escapes the mind. As most writers (and non-writers) will attest, it’s hair pulling time. This is where OneLook’s reverse lookup dictionary rides to the rescue.

OneLook calls itself – the search engine for words. According to the web service, it indexes more than 5 million words in more than 900 online dictionaries along with encyclopedias and other reference sites. Although, OneLook offers the entire range of a dictionary service, it is the Reverse Dictionary we are interested in.

The Look”¦

Strictly utilitarian. OneLook Beta Version (1.1) looks like it has been put together by a newbie web designer, but as in the case of Google itself ““ looks are deceptive. The minimalistic interface with just a search box and how-to-do explanations are all about simplicity with speed.

The Concept”¦

Straightforwardly easy. You don’t remember the word but just what the word stands for. OneLook calls it the “˜concept’. Enter the concept in the search box in a few words, a sentence, a question, or even as a related single word. Hit Find Words to get a list of results with the best matches usually at the forefront of the results.

The site says it works by “˜using a motley assortment of statistical language processing hacks’. (D-uh, I just might reverse look it up.)

The Uses

The site explains it best as shown in the screenshot below.

How to Use it

OneLook’s Reverse Lookup takes me from the “˜word is on the tip of my tongue’ to a revelatory “˜eureka’ moment. But to get the best results in the shortest time”¦

Keep the word or phrase short.
The accurate matches will be usually at the beginning of the results list.
Click on the word to verify its dictionary definition.
The dictionary definitions are arranged according to categories of – General, Art, Business, Computing, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Religion, Science, Slang, Sports, Tech and Phrases. Phrases and slangs sometimes give interesting variations for use in writing.
Use wildcard patterns if the meaning or word is fuzzy. And also to filter the mass of results.
The asterisk (*) equals any number of characters. For instance, type love* to get all words and phrases like love-bird that begin with “˜love’.
The question mark (?) equals exactly one character. For instance, type l?v? to get all words and many acronyms too.
The number-sign (#) is a single placeholder for any English consonant.
Similarly, the asterisk (@) is a single placeholder for any English vowel.
Do a relatedness search by combining two wildcards. For instance, typing t*:salesman will give words and phrases starting with “˜t’ and related to salesman.
Some searches will also let you limit the results by Common words and phrases only or Common words only.
Get the full complement of acronyms by using the expand shorthand. For instance, expand:USA.

Look into these wildcard tips in the Help section of the website.

Access it as an add-on from the browser search box.

OneLook can be added to the Firefox and IE search toolbar as an add-on. In other browsers it can be added to the Links folder. Thus, giving easy access.

Customize your experience

The Customize page of the site lets you tweak the way you view the results, background colors and banner display settings.

As the web service crosses over from the beta stage, we can expect even more value additions. Even now, as a reverse lookup dictionary its byword is results at a click of Find Words. I guess, I will now be able to crack the Times Crossword in “˜a blink of an eye’. In a heartbeat, as OneLook Reverse Lookup says.

Try it and let us know with your worded comments.

How To Make Use Of Research Feature in Microsoft Word 2007

Saikat Basu — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:01:16 +0000

Most of us fire up Microsoft Word for our run of the mill document needs. Most of us don’t peek under the hood to see and use the other ready at hand tools that are just a few clicks away. I too accuse myself of this common shortcoming. It is perhaps a dire need or a serendipitous event that lead me to exploit a feature until now ignored.

A contingent requirement lead me to the “˜discovery’ of Research feature in Microsoft Word 2007. Since Office 2003, this feature has been a quite presence. Perhaps, not used as frequently because for most of us a browser is more second nature. But a Research feature within the Office suite has its own value too.

Simply put, the research options button provides one click access to particular reference books and research sites that the Microsoft Office 2007 suite provides as information resources. For example, the Research services to choose from include dictionaries, thesauruses, and various Internet research Web sites in several languages. The Research pane also includes a very useful translation service.

3 ways to access the research feature

Stuck at a word for a meaning or its nuance? Get the dope on the word by either”¦

Right clicking on the word and selecting Look Up”¦ from the context menu.

Select the word and Alt-Click on it.

Open the Research pane by going to ““ Review ““ Proofing ““ Research.

Set up your Research Resources

The research functionality includes quite a few known resources as can be seen from the dropdown. Third party reference mines like Dow Jones’ Factiva iWorks, the premiere online library HighBeam, Gale Company Profiles and Microsoft’s own Live Search coupled with its rich Encarta dictionary and encyclopedia.

To fine tune our results we can include a few more options and exclude those we don’t want. Configure the research sources by following these steps -

Click on Research options at the bottom of the Research pane.
The Research Options box gives us checkboxes to select or deselect for Reference books, Research sites and Business /Financial sites we choose.

The Add Services button puts in the choices in the Research Options dialog dropdown.

Similarly, the Update/Remove button updates or removes the services of our choice. The Parental Control is a filter which sieves the results and screens out the offensive and the vile in the results.

The quite so useful translate service for a word or a phrase

Word 2007 can translate a single word or a phrase into 15 languages. Translating a single word is simple through the right click menu or through the search box in the Research pane. The word is looked up in the dictionary and the meaning returned. Translating a phrase involves sending the selected text to WorldLingo.com, a language translation service. The results open up in a browser window.

Note: The selected text is unencrypted so user discretion is advised when sending sensitive text.

The sum and the substance

The research feature is not only a Word 2007 tool but it is inbuilt into every Office 2007 application. It also combines several third party sources like Gale’s company profiles, WorldLingo or HighBeam along with standard issue Microsoft resources like Encarta or Live Search.

Yes, for a more comprehensive lookup I might have to head over to my favorite search engine, but having a research option with the plus of a translation tool is also help enough.