Here’s a cool online dictionary that I’ve been using lately. It’s called The Free Dictionary and it has “English, Medical, Legal, Financial, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one!” It’s based on the Fourth Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary (2003).

What I like about the site:

  • You can search for whole words, beginnings of words, ends of words, or words in the body of the entry.
  • It has definitions with examples and links to related words, and also the etymology of the term.
  • The entry from their large, hyperlinked thesaurus is right below the definitions.
  • They provide links to other entries in FreeDictionary that use the word.
  • You’re given several “references in classical literature” that use the word, with a link to more results.
  • They have a couple of browsers showing the words and phrases that come before and after your term.
  • There’s a “Cite/Link” link that gives you the citation for your page in APA, Chicago, and MLA styles.
  • There’s also a list of your recent searches.
  • They’ve created a customizable home page that gives you not just linguistic and literary information, but also news, weather, word games, and more. Just drag and drop to “use or lose” the various modules. You can even add your own RSS feeds!
  • The website is designed much better than yourdictionary.com.

What I don’t like about this site:

  • Not much.
  • There are some customized ads (like Google) at the top and middle of the page, but they’re easy to overlook.