I tend to use the dictionary a lot on the mac. Its annoying to launch the app everytime i need to lookup a word. Are there any other apps/hacks to avoid this annoyance? Spotlight lookup is awesome, but doesnt show enough detail. Do you know any app that can provide a panel view for dictionary definitions. For example, launch bar has a nice panel view for its calculator results.
Mac Dictionary improvements
dictionarymenu barshortcut-menuspotlight
Related Solutions
Yo ! Man, I got the best thing for you.
Just type some of your characters of word & press F5 & see the magic, It is what you want. Suppose your not getting the word rub some & get what you want.
Here is snap-shot of what you want. ( source of lots of shortcut keys )
Suppose, I am a user, I would do as follows.
- Start typing
- suppose I typed Compu
- and then I would press F5 for getting hints
simple & short just F5 does all for you, no need to press Cmd+: and then get correct one from list. It will give you list on the spot.
Spotlight can do this. You just need to hover your mouse over the "Look Up" entry:
Best Answer
Try ^+⌘+D while selecting a word (that's
ctrl+cmd+d). If the app is well integrated into Mac OS X, it will show a little popup with the word definition.Like so
If you click "More..", it'll open the dictionary app.
If this shortcut doesn't work, go to
System Preferences>Keyboard>Keyboard shortcuts>Servicesand search
Look Up in Dictionaryto add the shortcut you want.