Find a word from its definition

How do I use OneLook’s thesaurus / reverse dictionary?

OneLook lets you find any kind of word for any kind of writing.
Like a traditional thesaurus, you
can use it to find synonyms and antonyms, but it’s far more flexible.
Describe what you’re looking for with a single word, a few words,
or even a whole sentence. Type in your description and hit
Enter (or select a word that shows up in the autocomplete preview)
to see the related words.
You can order, filter, and explore the
words that come back in a variety of creative ways.

Here’s a video which
goes over some of the basics.

What are some examples?

Exploring the results

Click on any result to see definitions and usage examples tailored to your search,
as well as links to follow-up searches and additional usage information when available.
OneLook knows about more than 2 million different
words and expressions covering every topic under the sun.
Try exploring a favorite topic for a while and you’ll be surprised
how much new stuff there is to learn!

Ordering the results

Your results will initially appear with the most closely related word shown first,
the second-most closely shown second, and so on.
You can re-order the results in a variety of different ways, including
alphabetically, by length, by popularity, by modernness, by formality, and by other
aspects of style. Click the
box that says «Closest meaning first…» to see them all.
(Here’s a short video about sorting and filtering
with OneLook Thesaurus.)

Filtering the results

You can refine your search by clicking on the «Advanced filters» button
on the results page. This lets you narrow down your results to match
a certain starting letter, number of letters, number of syllables, related
concept, meter, vowel sound, or number of syllables.
Read more details on filters if you’re interested in how they work.

I’m only looking for synonyms! What’s with all of these weird results?

For some kinds of searches only the
first result or the first few results are truly synonyms
or good substitutions for your search word.
We highlight these results in yellow.
Beyond that, the results are meant to inspire you to consider similar words and adjacent
concepts. Not all of the results will make sense at first, but they’re all
connected with your search in some way. We’d rather give you too many options than
too few. If you’re unsure of a word, we urge you to click on
it to check its definitions and usage examples before using it in your Oscars
acceptance speech or honors thesis.

Other ways to access this service:

• Drag this link to your browser’s bookmarks bar for a convenient button that goes to the thesaurus:

      

  OneLook

• Enter onelook.com/word into your browser’s address bar to go directly to the OneLook Thesaurus entry for word.
• We offer a OneLook Thesaurus iPhone/iPad app
  for a low subscription fee, with a two-week free trial.
  This gives you OneLook at your fingertips, and
  several cool app-only features, while helping us maintain the service for all!
• If you use Google Docs, the thesaurus is integrated into the free OneLook Thesaurus Google Docs Add-On as the «Synonyms» button. (Wildcard patterns are not yet suppoerted by this add-on.)
• If you regularly use the main OneLook site, you can put colon (:) into any OneLook search box,
  followed by a description, to go directly to the thesaurus.
• If you’re a developer, the Datamuse API gives you access to the core features of this site.

Is this available in any language other than English?

The same interface is now available in Spanish at OneLook Tesauro
as a beta version. More languages are coming!

How does it work?

We use a souped-up version of our own Datamuse API,
which in turn uses several lingustic resources described in the «Data sources» section
on that page. The definitions come from Wiktionary,
Wikipedia, and WordNet.
Here are some known problems
with the current system.

Much gratitude to Gultchin et al for the algorithm behind the «Most funny-sounding» sort order.

Profanity and problematic word associations

If you’re using this site with children, be forewarned you’ll
find profanity and other vulgar expressions if you use OneLook frequently.
(We take an unflinching look at how words have actually been used; scrubbing out
hurtful wordswould be a disservice to everyone.)

Some of the thesaurus results come from a statistical analysis of the
words in a large collection of books written in the past two
centuries. A handful of times we’ve found that this analysis can lead
us to suggest word associations that reflect racist or harmful
stereotypes present in this source material. If you see one of these,
please know that we do not endorse what the word association implies.
In egregious cases we will remove it from the site if you
report it to us via the feedback link below.

Privacy

No personally identifying information is ever collected on this site
or by any add-ons or apps associated with OneLook. OneLook Thesaurus sends
your search query securely to the Datamuse API, which keeps a log file of
the queries made to the service in the last 24 hours. The log file is deleted
after 24 hours and we do not retain any long-term information about your
IP address or invididual queries.

Who’s behind this site and where can I send my comments and complaints feedback?

OneLook is a service of Datamuse.
You can send us feedback here.

The sunburst logo (🔆) is the emoji symbol for «high
brightness», which we aspire to create with OneLook. (The
graphic came from the open-source Twemoji
project.)

How do I find a word by definition?

Using the context of the paragraph to define unknown words can also helpful. Although it takes practice, it is the easiest and most efficient way to identify words. Often, using the context is the only way to figure out the meaning of the word as it is used in the sentence, passage, or chapter. Consider the word “bar”.

How do I quote a dictionary definition in my essay?

To cite a dictionary definition in APA Style, start with the author of the dictionary (usually an organization), followed by the publication year, the word you’re citing, the dictionary name, the publisher (if not already listed as author), and the URL.

How do you write a dictionary definition?

If you’re just starting out writing definitions, begin with words that have specific meanings, especially nouns. Compare the number of meanings in a dictionary for specific words, such as “keepsake” or “prattle” to the number of meanings for widely-used words such as “down” or “set”, and you’ll see why.

How does a word get deleted from the dictionary?

The dictionary is a steadily enlarging volume, with thousands of new words being added each year. That’s because the English language constantly evolves and changes. As a result, words get removed from the dictionary, though this doesn’t happen nearly as frequently as they’re added.

What words are they taking out of the dictionary?

These words may be removed from some dictionaries

• Aerodrome.
• Alienism.
• Bever.
• Brabble.
• Charabanc.
• Deliciate.
• Frigorific.
• Supererogate.

Do dictionaries have every word?

Dictionaries do not contain all the words ‘ Some words are omitted because they are obsolete, and others are left out because they are not germane to anyone but a specialist (dictionaries tend to not define all of the known chemical compounds, for instance).

Can I invent a word?

A lot of us make up new words. They’re called neologisms and coinages. Making up new words is fun, creative, and—especially when that word addresses a gap in the language—an extremely useful thing to do. The dictionary only includes words that have a specific meaning many people can agree on.”

Who decides what words go in the dictionary?

To decide which words to include in the dictionary and to determine what they mean, Merriam-Webster editors study the language as it’s used. They carefully monitor which words people use most often and how they use them.

How do new words become official?

A word gets into a dictionary when it is used by many people who all agree that it means the same thing. First, you drop the word into your conversation and writing, then others pick it up; the more its use spreads, the more likely it will be noticed by dictionary editors, or lexicographers.

Is LOL in the dictionary?

The internet slang term “LOL” (laughing out loud) has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary, to the mild dismay of language purists. The popular initialism LOL (laughing out loud) has been inducted into the canon of the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Is LOL bad word?

Nobody expects you to laugh out loud when you say LOL, but it’s okay if you do. It’s important to note that even though LOL is an official word, it’s not usually appropriate for many professional or educational settings. What’s more, some might also use LOL in a passive-aggressive way.

What does BAE mean in Korean?

Bae is largely used in the Korean language, and it is derived from Korean and Vietnamese origins. From Korean roots, its meaning is inspiration. Bae is a variant of the name Bay (English and Vietnamese). See also the related category korean.

Does BAE mean boyfriend?

Bae is an acronym that’s typically used to refer to: a boyfriend/girlfriend. a spouse. a lover.

What does TLDR stand for?

Too Long Didn’t Read

What if a girl calls you BAE?

When a girl calls you a bae it means that she may give a hint that she is interested in moving forwarded with their relationship.

What does it mean when a guy calls you BAE and you’re not dating?

That being said, calling someone who you’re not dating babe could be a good way to hint that you’re interested in them. “The subtle mention of the word will get you’re crush thinking,” Maria says. So, if you’re feeling brave, maybe try it out next time you’re chatting with your crush.

Are nicknames a sign of affection?

A nickname can say a lot about a person. Nicknames have been around as long as people have been talking. ! According to a study by Bellevue University, Nebraska, men give nicknames as a way of being affectionate without compromising masculinity.

What pet names do guys like to be called?

Cute Names to Call Your Boyfriend

• Sweetie/Sweetheart. A nice easy one to kick us off – there is nothing divisive about ‘sweetie’.
• Boo.
• Tiger.
• Sugar.
• Darling/Darlin’
• Handsome.
• Pumpkin.
• Baby/Babe.

• Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

I am creating a code where I need to take a string of words, convert it into numbers where hi bye hi hello would turn into 0 1 0 2. I have used dictionary’s to do this and this is why I am having trouble on the next part. I then need to compress this into a text file, to then decompress and reconstruct it into a string again. This is the bit I am stumped on.

The way I would like to do it is by compressing the indexes of the numbers, so the 0 1 0 2 bit into the text file with the dictionary contents, so in the text file it would have 0 1 0 2 and {hi:0, bye:1, hello:3}.

Now what I would like to do to decompress or read this into the python file, to use the indexes(this is how I will refer to the 0 1 0 2 from now on) to then take each word out of the dictionary and reconstruct the sentence, so if a 0 came up, it would look into the dictionary and then find what has a 0 definition, then pull that out to put into the string, so it would find hi and take that.

I hope that this is understandable and that at least one person knows how to do it, because I am sure it is possible, however I have been unable to find anything here or on the internet mentioning this subject.