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Check Definitions and Spelling Quickly

TMO Quick Tip - Check Definitions and Spelling Quickly

by , 7:30 AM EDT, August 8th, 2007

Mac OS X hides a clever little way to double-check a word's spelling and definition at the same time. Instead of launching the Dictionary application, you can open a dictionary window with a simple keyboard shortcut.

Here's how:

  • Select the word you want a definition for.
  • Type Command-Control-D


You don't need to launch Dictionary to take advantage of it.

The dictionary window appears showing what the word means along with how to spell it. Click anywhere else in your document to close the dictionary window.

The downside is that this keyboard shortcut doesn't work in every application. Most Apple applications recognize the shortcut, but some third-party apps don't.

This Quick Tip was adapted from The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X.


Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

if you have tips or tricks to share, or Mac-related questions you want answered.

  

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Subject: Just hover

Just hovering the mouse pointer over a word and then pressing the shortcut is enough to bring the dictionary window out.

Moving the pointer around this webpage while holding down the shortcut keys let's you choose different words without repeating the key press.

Close Name:mgoldberg Posts: 8 Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Subject: check definitions and spelling quickly

so I tried it in the safari browser. Doesn't work. Hi lighting the word and pressing command D merely tells the browser to add a bookmark.

So I tried it in Texedit- and I high lited a word, but it did nothing.
So I tried it in Microsoft word for man, and it pulled up the font menu....

What did I miss here...?

Mark

Close Name:mgoldberg Posts: 8 Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Subject: definitions....

oops, Command- Control D

Sorry... now it works,

Thanks for the tip!

Mark

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Command Control D

It works for me in Safari but not in TextEdit or Mail. I tried a variety of key combinations in case the hint had a typo, but no luck.

Close Name:steveald Posts: 1 Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Subject: spelling...

It only seems to do all that if you spell the word correctly. If you misspell the word, it will say "No entries found". You can then click on More in the corner of the dictionary window and it will suggest correct spellings of similar words.

It worked in Mail (v.2.1.1) for me, but not FileMaker (v.8) or Word or Excel (2004).

Close Name:typehead Posts: 1 Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Subject: TMO Quick Tip - Check Definitions and Spelling Quickly

Another way to check spelling in Mail is to highlight the entire word then Control-click on it. The contextual menu will pop-up and from there you can choose Look Up in Dictionary. As much as I love keyboard comands, I prefer this control-click method to the keyboard method since the keyboard method is way to close to the same key combo as the Send command (shift-cmd-D).

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Definitions and spelling

In Safari and TextEdit it's only necessary to right-click on a highlighted word to get the contextual menu with the Look Up in Dictionary option.

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