File this under “wait… that didn’t happen ages ago?” but Merriam-Webster has finally gotten around to launching a dictionary app for Google Android. The free app lets you look up words, listen to how they’re pronounced, or even search by voice. There’s a word of the day feature and the ability to view your search history to help remember all those words you just learned.

The app looks nearly identical to Merriam-Webster’s free iOS app, but while the dictionary maker offers an iPad app which makes better use of the extra space on large screens, there’s no tablet-specific app for Android yet. You can install the dictionary app on any phone or tablet running Android 1.6 and up, but all you get when you use the app on a large screen is a stretched-out version of the smartphone experience.

via Android Police

Read the rest of this entry »

Remember when you used to have to pay for a dictionary? Those days are long gone. I can’t remember the last time I went to a physical book to look up a word. Instead I just type a word into a web site. Sometimes I don’t even get that far, instead just typing into my browser’s search bar and letting Google do the heavy lifting for me.

But if you’re a fan of actual dictionaries, you don’t need to buy one from the book store. Merriam-Webster has launched a free, ad-supported dictionary app for the iPad. Not only can you look up any word by typing in the search box, but the app also supports voice search and provides audio pronunciations.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary HD app also allows you to view your recent history, shows a Word of the Day. The app is available as a free download from the App Store. There’s also a free app for the iPhone and iPod touch.

via TUAW

Dictionaries are great if you need to look up the meaning of a word you’ve read in a book, newspaper, or online. But what if it’s a word you’ve heard but don’t know how to spell? You could try to sound it out, but the English language isn’t always helpful there. Just thing of all the words you would think start with an F or an S that actually start with a PH or a P.

Fortunately the latest version of the Dictionary.com app for iOS doesn’t require you to spell a word to look it up. You can hit the new Voice tab, tap the screen, and speak a word. The Dictionary.com up will attempt to identify the word and give you a definition. If there are several possible word choices, you’ll see a list and you can select the one you like.

I found that the app worked pretty well with a number of long words such as defenestration and even antidisestablishmentarianism.

Of course, you can also look up a word by typing it in the search box, view the word of the day, star your favorite words, or use the thesaurus portion of the app to find similar words.

The Dictionary.com app for iOS is available as a free, ad-supported download from the App Store. There’s also an ad-free version available for $2.99.

Update: It turns out you can only use the voice search feature 15 times for free, whether you’re using the free or paid app. After that, you have to pay $0.99 for every 300 voice search credits). Thanks Download Squad!

As much as I love the feel of holding a good book in my hand, there are a few things you can do with digital books that you can’t easily do with the old fashioned paper type of book. For instance, you can quickly search for text in the eBook, or highlight a word to look up its meaning in a dictionary. You know, assuming your eBook software lets you do that — which the Amazon Kindle app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad now does.

Here’s how it works, just fire up Amazon Kindle 2.2 on your iDevice and open a book. then press and hold any word, and a menu will pop up asking if you want to add a note or highlight the text. You should also see a definition of the word from the Oxford American Dictionary.

You can also click the Google or Wikipedia buttons to search for the word on one of those sites using the web browser. Or you can click the Full Definition button to see a more complete entry for the word from the Oxford dictionary, which has about 250,000 entries.

When you install the Kindle 2.2 app, it will automatically download the dictionary, which you can also open as a standalone eBook if you’re the sort of person who likes to read through dictionaries cover to cover in your free time.

The new app also adds the ability for searching inside of books on the iPad.

The Amazon Kindle app for iOS is available as a free download from the App Store.