Look up in Dictionary.app

Is there any way to look up a word directly in Dictionary.app?
Control clicking a selected word, choosing "Look up..." brings up the definition(s) in a pop up window. Then clicking on "Dictionary" takes you to the Dictionary application... But I prefer the former (Snow Leopard) option of going directly to Dictionary.app
Can I get this back?

OK. Here's a service that reproduces the desired effect...
--Look up in Dictionary service script
on process(_selection)
     tell application "Dictionary"
activate
         open location "dict:///" & _selection
     end tell
end process
Save the above as an Applescript with name "Look up in Dictionary"
Pack up as a service with ThisService (available from http://wafflesoftware.net/thisservice/ )
Make sure it's checked in System Preferences/Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts/Services
Add shortcut CTRL + CMD + D (replacing the default "Look up...")
There you go! Gone is that lurid animation and pop-up window.

Similar Messages

Look up in Dictionary keyboard shortcut hot key broken

The look up in dictionary keyboard shortcut does not work.
The Dictionary.app and widget works.
Even clicking on the menu item:
Safari > Services > Look Up in Dictionary works.
Under System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts
I have "Restore Defaults", toggled the Dictionary checkboxes, reassigned to another shortcut.
if i "Inspect" Safari in Activity Monitor, the "Open Files and Ports" does not list
/System/Library/Components/DictionaryService.component
whereas, this component is listed on a Mac OS X box where the Dictionary does work.
TIA!

yes on both MacBooks, in Safari, i moused over a word and pressed Cmd-Ctrl-D.
the service is greyed out in Safari until i highlight a word.
the file com.apple.KeyboardViewerServer.plist does not exist under any users home directory $HOME/Library/Preferences nor the system-wide /Library/Preferences
$ find $HOME/Library/Preferences /Library/Preferences -iname 'keyb'
$
nevertheless, thanks for your input.

TS1702 I downloaded a free Merriam-Webster dictionary app for use on my iphone 5. I thought I executed the steps to download it properly...I do see it in my App Store 'purchased' list, but I don't see it actually activated and ready for use anywhere...he

I downloaded a free Merriam-Webster Dictionary app for use on my iphone 5. I thought I followed the download process properly, but cannot see that the app is launched on my phone. I have checked my phone for 'updates' and the app is listed among the ones I have purchased. I clicked on it and it began installing, however, it still has not launched. I get a message screen to sign in with my Apple ID, which I tried, and I get the message that I have purchased this app and it will download. When I try to sign in, I get the message that it can't connect to the itunes store and to retry. I've done that several times without any luck...not sure where else to look for the 'working' app. I did try re-booting the phone...even did a 'hard reset' to no avail...help?

Anything* >.<

How can I change the size of Dictionary.app panel?

Hi!
I love quickly looking up words while working in applications such as Safar, Pages or Mail.
I go to Dictionary’s preferences and set the Context Menu option Dictionary.app - Open Dictionary panel.
But the size of the window pane is very small.
In Mac OSX 10.5 I did like this:
In Interface Builder.app open file /Applications/Dictionary.app/Contents/SharedSupport/DictionaryPanel.app/Content s/Resources/English.lproj/PopupWindow.nib and (⌘+3) set the width and height. The result:
!http://grab.by/1vHR!
In 10.6 I can not find the file PopupWindow.nib.
Where is it?

Hi, everyone, I have found the solution of this problem.
Step1: Go to Macintosh> System> Library> CoreServices> Find DictionaryPanel.bundle
Step2: Click it and Show Package Contents> Contents> Resources> English.lproj> DCSDictionaryPanel.nib> Show Package Contents> keyedobjects.nib
Now, you may find it's not editable, if you already know how to edit it, just skip this part
so, please regard to this website: http://www.macstories.net/tutorials/how-to-edit-nib-files-in-snow-leopard/
then, use Interface Builder to do whatever you want. Have fun.
FYI: If you don't know what Interface Builder is, it comes with Xcode that you can download it from apple website after registered as a developer.

Is there a way to upload a dictionary generated for the XOS Dictionary App to the hidden dictionary app of iPad or iPhone, respectively?

Dear All,
I started to generate on my MacBook, with the Tools provided with XCode 5, to generate a dictionary for the Dictionary App which runs fine on my Max OSX machines. Now I wonder if there is a way to upload the dictionary to the hidden dictionary app of iOS to use the dictionary on iPad and iPhone via the "define"-option of highlighted words. All of curse under the assumption both applications use the same dictionary formate, what I guess since both outputs look very similar. The hidden app of iOS downloads dictionaries somehow from iCloud as the cloud symbol suggests. But does anyone know how to upload dictionaries to there e.g. from a MacBook to be able to download it subsequently with iPad or iPhone in the "manage"-Mode of the hidden dictionary app?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
Juergen

SOLVED!!!!!
This is the app:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dictionary.appender/id650562573?mt=8
I emailed the maker of the app and he said to just follow these instructions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4094
File share the .dictionary file to your ipad and then add it from the list of addable languages. It took a minute for it to show up on my ipad but it DID work. It is working with iBooks.
Happy reading.
Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Did anyone notice that scroll bar is not working properly in Dictionary.app?

after upgrading to Mountain Lion, I noticed that for dictionary.app 1) space/shift+space cannot be used to scroll the page 2) when I use arrow keys to do so, they are the opposite in direction to whatever works in other apps
does this happen to other people too?

Yes, I see this same behaviour. I had to look for it specifically though, because the way I use Dictionary.app means I've never had the need to scroll with the keyboard before.
Feel free to report it as a bug: http://bugreport.apple.com/ .

Trying to re-install Dictionary.app but it doesn't work

Hi,
I've deleted dictionary.app by mistake (Leopard 10.5.8). I've used the Mac OS X Install DVD, chose optional software and ticked Oxford Dictionary. The installation was successful but I cannot find dictionary anywhere in my imac... Repeated the process a few times, restarted, etc - no luck!
I am obviously doing something wrong but what??

That actually installs the dictionary, not the application. Try this:
How Restore Deleted or Missing OS X Components
A few of the basic OS X installed applications can be restored from the Optional Installs installer located in the Optional installs folder on your Installer DVD. However, if what you need is not there then follow the instructions below.
How to Use Pacifist to Restore Deleted or Missing OS X Components
Insert the OS X Installer DVD into the optical drive. Use a simple utility like TinkerTool to toggle invisibility so you can see invisible items. Alternatively, open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder and at the prompt enter the following:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles Yes
Press RETURN.
To turn off the display of invisible files repeat the above command substituting No for Yes.
The install packages are located in the /System/Installation/ folder on the DVD.
Download the shareware utility Pacifist from VersionTracker or MacUpdate. Use it to extract a fresh copy of the missing item(s) from the file archives on your OS X installation DVD. The file archives are in the /System/Installations/ folder (use Go to Folder option in the Go menu of the Finder.)
Here are Four Basic ways to use Pacifist (courtesy of George Orville.)
A. Drag a .pkg icon onto the Pacifist window .....proceed to step 7.
B. Click on “Open Package ....” and navigate to package desired and click “Open” in the open/save window.....proceed to step 7.
C. Insert Mac OS X installer CD and when it mounts, navigate to .... Menu->Go->Go to Folder.
In the path field enter or paste ....
/Volumes/disc name/System/Installation/Packages (where disc name is the name of the CD/DVD that you inserted.
• Click on the "Go" button .....
• Drag a .pkg to Pacifist..... proceed to step 7.
The package you'll need will have to be discovered by trial and error, but for most applications you should start with the Essentials.pkg and/or Additional Essentials.pkg.
D. Insert your Mac OS X install disk 1 .... and open Pacifist.
1. In Pacifist, select "Open Mac OS X Install Packages" ... dialog may appear asking for disk 2, then disk 3 and finally disk 1 again.... {if DVD is not used)...If “Stop Loading” is selected...the procedure will stop!!!
2a. When loading is complete, a new window appears, click the triangle to display contents of each package...Select item and proceed to step 7.
2b. or click the “Find” icon in the Pacifist window and type the name of the software you need.
3. In the list that comes back, click the top most entry for the item that you want. ..... that is the one for the English language.
4. On the top of the Pacifist window, click “verify” .... you will probably be prompted for your password.
5. Enter checks for.... “verify permissions” and “verify file contents.” and click “verify” ....enter password when prompted.... you will get back output which may look like this:
20 files were scanned.
20 of 20 files were present on the hard disk.
0 of 20 files had file permissions that did not match those specified in the package.
0 of 20 files had checksums that did not match those specified in the package.
6. Click “close”. Go to step 7.
Extract or Install........
7. In the Toolbar (upper left), you now have the option to extract or install. Click a file in the lower list and those two icons will be enabled.
8. If “Extract to...” is selected.... navigate to the location where the file will be placed, select “choose”, select “extract” in new dialog that appears,authenicate , if prompted, click “OK”.
9. In the next dialog, click “Extract”.
10. If “Install” is selected... dialog will appear with the location/path of the installed software. Click “Install”
11. Type in your password, click “OK”
• Pacifist will begin to extract files.
12. In steps 8/10ß.... you also have the choice to “cancel”
Notes.....
• Pacifist may find that a file it is installing already exists on the hard disk. Pacifist will present you with an alert panel....
Stop
Leave original alone
Update ..... Default selection
Replace .... Replace option should only be used on full install packages

AppleScript Dictionary.app workaround

Dictionary.app does not have AppleScript support. This seems very odd to me, as it should be quite simple to add definition retrieval from anywhere through AppleScript this way. I am attempting to add this sort of functionality to iChat, but i'm having no luck. Does anybody know of a workaround for this problem? I tried to take a look at the Dictionary widget in Dashcode, but that seems to use some sort of specialized widget plugin. Any ideas would be great!

I have no idea how you plan on adding functionality to iChat, but Dictionary Services is a public API:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/DictionarySer vicesProgGuide/access/chapter4_section_2.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40006152-CH5-DontLinkElementID4

Custom Dictionary.app dict troubleshooting

Is there a simple way to flush the cache of Dictionary.app?
While developing a new dictionary to add, I can (naturally) only test it by installing and starting Dictionary. However, if the new file contains some (any!) kind of error, Dict.app starts behaving erratically [*], and adjusting and reinstalling the new file does not fix it. I found a small clean all systems cache program, but it clears out way too much, and (even worse!) requires a system restart... I already knew restarting sometimes made dict.app come alive again -- there must be an easier way!
Is there?
[*] Symptoms include not removing labels for already removed dictionaries, finding an entry in the index but not showing the page itself, then gradually disintegrating entirely ... (In case this sounds familiar to anyone.)

Jongware wrote:
I have to agree on the different look-and-feel ... If you think the HTML looked good, well, the Windows CHM version looks the same but has a full index and a free text search option.
There are a number of very nice CHM readers for the Mac too. Dictionary.app is just so specialized to dictionaries.
The plain HTML version is okay, but you cannot search through all pages automatically, which is why I added a manually created contents and index. For plain HTML, putting everything into a single file is just not an option.
You might look into using Apple's help system. It is similar to CHM in many respects. It also gives you full text search. Everything is based on HTML too. You could definitely put the content into an Apple Help system. You might event be able to hack-up InDesign some way to include your help in their menu structure somewhere.
I've got an old "generic" starter project for Apple Help somewhere. It is based on my XSL system, but that should be pretty close to your dictionary sources.
I don't even have a favourite text editor at the mo' -- this is my 2nd week on a Mac! Any recommendations? TextWrangler is ... adequate ... but only barely, as it splutters and coughs when I edit the first line of an 8 meg document. (Now that's no problem at all with TextPad!)
I'm quite font of Xcode's editor. It has nice features, understands lots of languages, and doesn't get in my way. I turn off all the automatic formatting though. That's useless. I don't think it would handle a very large file any better though.
I like to use nedit (via X11) to edit really big files or files on slow sshfs links. It doesn't have all the overhead of Xcode, etc.

HT2496 Dictionary.app; deleted.

accidentally deleted Dictionary.app, any other way to get it back besides re-installing the os?

You're not getting any replies because although it looks like you are using a brand new computer you posted this in the forum for OSX 10.3 which is almost 10 years old and this forum is viewed by very few. Post back with the operating system version you are using and we can ask it be moved to the correct forum.

Needs dictionary app.

I don't have a problem, but I am buying my wife a new ipod touch and she's going to follow some French-Arabic classes and she needs an electronic dictionary, I suggested her to use an ipod touch and get a multi-language dictionary app.
Any idea what would be a good app to purchase?

You should try the free versions of the application on the app store for electronic dictionary, before you buy them. If you find a particular application you might be interested in, search the web for reviews on that app which you could find hundreds of that appplication(you are looking at).
Johnny....

Looking for a remote app

I am looking for a remote app for my windows computer at work so I can control my music. I have Remote from my mac to use with iTunes at home and thats great. But now I was wondering do they have anything like that for windows I use windows media player. Thanks so much

Correction from my last message-
Are you looking for a way to control the music from your PC to Mac as in remote desktop, or are you looking for a way to access (play, delete, share) your music?
If its the first choice, see my last post.
If its the second choice, you can turn on Home Sharing in iTunes.
Go to Advanced>Turn on Home Sharing
You'll have to login with an Apple ID, and do the same thing on your other computers.
For more information on Home Sharing, visit this link:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819

I signed up for my apple account while living in Canada, and now I lives in the US. I am looking for a specific app that apparently is only available through the US app store. How can I change my account to the US Apple Store?

I signed up for my apple account while living in Canada, and now I lives in the US. I am looking for a specific app that apparently is only available through the US app store. How can I change my account to the US Apple Store?

As long as you have a form of payment (credit or debit card) with a USA source, and with a billing address in the USA, then you just need to change your payment information on your account to that, change your country in the store settings, and you will then be able to shop in the USA store.
Your AppleID will work in any country's store, as long as your payment source and billing addres are also specific to that country (and you are in that country as well, as there may be IP filters in place to stop use outside of the country).

I am looking for an iPad App that will play a specific iTunes song, at a specific time, on a specific day? Thank you all!

i am looking for an iPad App that will play a specific iTunes song, at a specific time, on a specific day? Thank you all!

Sorry, i did not say that i need to go out further than 1 week. This is for a church Bell Tower Music System. So we don't want to have to re program the music every week. We are looking for more of a Calender App that will play iTunes Songs for alarms...different songs, on different days. IDEAS ANYONE ???

New to Mac and I am looking for a good app to process labels for envelopes. Used to use the Printmaster program on the PC side. Wondering if "Pages" Iis the correct program to buy of is there another option. Thank you.

New to Mac and used to use a program called print master for making all kinds of labels etc. I am looking for a good app to do the same. I was wondering if the Pages app was the right choice to do the labels etc. I understand that pages I'd a word processing app but I was unable to tell if it could do what I was looking for. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

The Contacts application will print envelopes and is already on your iMac. See this Apple article for information on how to do it.
Best of luck.

Look up in Dictionary.app

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for