Definitions of rare or unusual terms or words

[Guest guest]

, " "

<@e...> wrote:

 

> Do any of YOU have good tips for rapid checking of unusual words

> or terms?

>

 

Well, the most obvious would be http://www.m-w.com

Maybe you were looking for something else?

 

Brian C. Allen

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

How does one quickly find the definitions / meanings of unusual or

rare words, whose meanings one has forgotten or not learned

before?

 

Google [but NOT Altavista] has a special feature called

DEFINITION.

 

One types the word " definition " , followed by a colon ( " : " ), followed

by the word of phrase of interest. There must be NO SPACES

between derfinition:XXXX, where XXXX is the word or phrase of

interest.

 

Try this. On Google [http://www.google.com ], search for:

:

definition: " ewing's-sarcoma "

definition: " manic-depressive-psychosis "

definition: " near-death-experience "

definition: " over-the-top "

definition:atelectasis

definition:chalazion

definition:insulinoma

definition:antidisestablishmentarianism

 

NOTE: not all words or phrases, even in English, can be found

easily via the Google definition tag.

 

For example, it has no hits for pinyin transliterations, such as:

definition: " yang-ming-syndrome "

definition:de-qi "

definition: " bu-zhong-yi-qi "

definition: " wei-qi-xu "

 

However, Google is very good for most English terms unless they

are recent or slang expressions.

 

If that fails, try the following

" definition-of- " over-the-top " "

" definition-of- " manic-depression " "

 

Do any of YOU have good tips for rapid checking of unusual words

or terms?

 

Best regards,

 

Email: <

 

WORK : Teagasc, c/o 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Mobile: 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

 

HOME : 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Tel : 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

WWW : http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/searchap.htm

 

Chinese Proverb: " Man who says it can't be done, should not interrupt man doing

it "

[Guest guest]

Hi Diego

 

Diego Tronco wrote:

> Hi Phil, try this website: www.yourdictionary.com There's

> everything, from unusual words to dictionaries, glossaries,

> grammars and language courses on the web for any language in the

> world. Ciao, Diego

 

Yes, that is a good resource. I have used it before.

 

Brian Allen replied:

> … the most obvious would be http://www.m-w.com Maybe you were

> looking for something else?

 

http://www.m-w.com [Merriam Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus

search page] is one of many individual facilities online.

 

The beauty of Google’s

definition:XXXX

or

definition:”XXXX-YYYY-ZZZZ”

facility is that it searches MULTIPLE dictionaries and thesauruses

(thesauri?), including medical, scientific and other dictionaries, and

other WWW sites, to return hits that actually match or define the

searched expression.

 

It includes Merriam and www.yourdictionary.com in one single

operation to try to find the meaning of a word or string of words.

 

It is a most impressive facility.

 

If only the Google Boolean Search option allowed more than 10

keywords ... A Google technical operative replied to me some days

ago that Google has no plans to increase the power of its Boolean

Search facility at this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Email: <

 

WORK : Teagasc, c/o 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Mobile: 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

 

HOME : 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Tel : 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

WWW : http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/searchap.htm

 

Chinese Proverb: " Man who says it can't be done, should not interrupt man doing

it "

[Guest guest]

Hi Diego

 

Diego Tronco wrote:

> Hi Phil, try this website: www.yourdictionary.com There's

> everything, from unusual words to dictionaries, glossaries,

> grammars and language courses on the web for any language in the

> world. Ciao, Diego

 

Yes, that is a good resource. I have used it before.

 

Brian Allen replied:

> … the most obvious would be http://www.m-w.com Maybe you were

> looking for something else?

 

http://www.m-w.com [Merriam Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus

search page] is one of many individual facilities online.

 

The beauty of Google’s

definition:XXXX

or

definition:”XXXX-YYYY-ZZZZ”

facility is that it searches MULTIPLE dictionaries and thesauruses

(thesauri?), including medical, scientific and other dictionaries, and

other WWW sites, to return hits that actually match or define the

searched expression.

 

It includes Merriam and www.yourdictionary.com in one single

operation to try to find the meaning of a word or string of words.

 

It is a most impressive facility.

 

If only the Google Boolean Search option allowed more than 10

keywords ... A Google technical operative replied to me some days

ago that Google has no plans to increase the power of its Boolean

Search facility at this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Email: <

 

WORK : Teagasc, c/o 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Mobile: 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

 

HOME : 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Tel : 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

WWW : http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/searchap.htm

 

Chinese Proverb: " Man who says it can't be done, should not interrupt man doing

it "