Webster's New World Dictionary
& Thesaurus

Find the Right Word with The Essential Dictionary & Thesaurus

Product Information

Webster's New World Dictionary & Thesaurus lets you search its database for words or series of words. You can search through every definition in the dictionary (if the dictionary is open), every thesaurus entry (if the thesaurus is open), or definitions and thesaurus entries (if both are open). In addition to the regular search, WNW can perform a Quick Find for the currently displayed word.

You can run a complex search for up to three words or phrases, either in conjunction or in the alternative. For example, you can search for a definition that contains either the words happy and glad, or the word sad. You can also include words not to find. For instance, you may want to search for the word mad, but only in the sense of angry, and not crazy. To do this, search for a definition that contains the words mad AND angry, NOT crazy.

Some words such as a, if, that, and the, are too common to be searched. If you enter one of these words in your search, the search will not proceed and the following error message will appear: The query contains one or more words that are too common to search. Please try another query.


To search the WNW database:

1. Click Find on the toolbar, or select Find from the LookUp menu.

2. The Find dialog box contains three text fields. You can fill in all three fields, or just the first two, or just the first. 

3. Between each two text fields that you fill in, you can select either And, Or, or Not. The default is And.

4. Click Display to run your search.

Note: When you use all three fields, WNW treats the first two fields as a unit. For example, if you run a search in the dictionary for red and black or orange, WNW searches for definitions that contain either red and black, or orange. However, if you search for orange or black and red, WNW searches for definitions that contain both red, and either orange or black.

WNW displays your search results, in alphabetical order, in a scrollable display area in the Find window. To display the definition, thesaurus entry, or both, for one of the search results, select the word and click Display, or double-click the word. 

If you are looking up words in both the dictionary and thesaurus, you can determine whether words in the list are located in the dictionary, thesaurus, or both, by the icons next to the words. 

• Words "with this icon" are located in both the dictionary and the thesaurus. 
• Words "with this icon" are located in the dictionary only.
• Words "with this icon" are located in the thesaurus only.

• With over 50,000 entries, definitions, synonyms, and antonyms you'll be able to find the right word faster with The Essential Dictionary & Thesaurus. 
• Find the right word even if you can't spell it with a database of 15,000 commonly misspelled words.
• Expand your spell checker to recognize business terms, place names, and tens of thousands of new words.
• Get a definition of a word just by pointing and clicking with The Essential Dictionary & Thesaurus is the right word utility to ensure your correspondence makes sense.

WNW gives you definitions and synonyms for over 150,000 words. These definitions and synonyms appear in the Main Window.  You can choose to display definitions from the dictionary, synonyms from the thesaurus, or both. If you choose to display both, the Main Window expands and divides into two sections, one for definitions and the other for synonyms.

You can select words either clicking the word (Click Mode) or pointing to it with the cursor (Point Mode). WNW lets you define which of these methods to use. If you choose Click Mode, you can define a type of click that will not conflict with any other programs (e.g., Alt+Right Click). If you choose Point Mode, you can define the length of time the cursor must rest on the word before WNW looks up the word in its database.

You can also enter words to look up by typing the word you want in the Main Window or choosing the word from a scrollable list.  This online version of WNW makes full use of available technology to give you special features that a book cannot provide. Definitions and synonyms in WNW are linked, so that you can have the dictionary and/or thesaurus look up any word in a definition or synonym by double-clicking the word. You can also search for a word, a phrase, or a series of words and phrases, in WNW’s entire database of definitions and synonyms. WNW lets you make simple and more complex searches. Another feature is a History List, which lets you refer back to words you looked up earlier.

When you display a word in the dictionary, a phonetic spelling appears in parentheses next to the word. A key to the phonetic symbols appears in the Pronunciation Guide. You can also access the Pronunciation Guide by choosing Pronunciation from the Help menu in the Main Window. Many of the WNW definitions include abbreviations. A key to these abbreviations appears in the Abbreviation Guide. You can also access the Abbreviation Guide by choosing Abbreviation from the Help menu in the Main Window.

You can print definitions, thesaurus entries, or both. You can also copy selected text to the clipboard.  If WNW cannot identify the word underneath your cursor, it displays an error message in the status bar. If WNW identified the word but cannot find a matching entry in the book or books you are using, it displays an error message in the Main Window.

• Windows 95/98/Me
• Pentium computer
• 16MB of RAM
• CD-ROM drive
• SVGA graphics card
• 8MB free hard disk space
• Mouse

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