Find definitions and synonyms with Wordweb tool
Get hold of a fantastic free tool that's perfect for wordsmiths and casual writers alike
Microsoft Word 2003 has a number of built-in reference tools, including both a dictionary and thesaurus. These are invaluable for anyone crafting words, whether a quick letter to the bank or a vast treatise on avenues that may lead to world peace (good luck with that one). However, not everyone has access to more advanced applications. Fortunately, there is a handy freeware program that can step into the breach. In this Workshop we'll introduce a handy free application called WordWeb, and demonstrate the basics of its use. This can be used with the likes of WordPad, which is included with Windows, and provides an extensive dictionary and thesaurus. Step 1... We've created a link to the WordWeb download page at http://wordweb.info/free/. When the page appears, click the WordWeb link to be transferred and then click the 'Get the FREE download' link. When the File Download dialogue box appears, click Save and then select the Windows Desktop as the save location. The 6MB file should take around 20 minutes to download on a dial-up connection; or just a few seconds on broadband. When it's done, locate and double-click the downloaded file (called 'Wordweb.exe'). Step 2... Read the first dialogue box of the installation procedure and click Accept to move on when done. On the WordWeb Setup dialogue box, select the appropriate radio button to signify whether or not you'd like a shortcut icon for the application placed in the Notification Area (WordWeb refers to this as the System Tray, which is the former name of the Notification Area), and then click Next. Unless you specifically want to change the installation folder, click Next again. Finally, if you wish to select a locale other than 'Britain', do so and then click Install. Click OK to close the post-installation dialogue box. Step 3... WordWeb can be launched in a number of ways. If you opted in the previous step to have a shortcut icon placed in the Notification Area, then a double-click of this icon will see WordWeb spring into action. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl and Alt and W from any application to launch WordWeb. Note that when doing this within a text-editing application like WordPad, WordWeb will automatically look up the highlighted word and display the results when it launches. Step 4... Note that the WordWeb window is divided into various parts, with the definition window taking centre stage. Type a word into the Lookup entry box and click Search (or just hit Enter) and, assuming the word is found in the dictionary, its definition will be displayed. Step 5... Below the word-definition area sit a number of tabbed headings. These are pretty much self-explanatory, so click on each in turn to see the results. Clicking on Synonyms, for example, will display a list of words with the same or similar meanings to the one displayed in the definition window. If you're using WordWeb as a thesaurus and spot a suitable alternative word in the Synonyms list, then click to highlight the word and then click Copy or Replace (the button's label will change depending on how WordWeb was launched). Replace will appear when WordWeb is launched from within a text application, like WordPad, where a word was highlighted; otherwise Copy will be the option. If Copy is used, the Paste option will need to be executed in the text application. Step 6... Finally, explore the Options menu for ways to customise WorbWeb, and don't miss the X-Ref button at the top-right of the application window: a click on this will display a drop-down list of installed dictionaries. In this free version of WordWeb, words can be cross-referenced with an online dictionary (click X-Ref followed by 'Web dictionary'), where longer or more up-to-date definitions may be available.
This article was created: 28 November 2006.
This article was last edited: 9 February 2007.
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