Dictionary and thesaurus

FoxQuill can look a word up without leaving the page.

The dictionary is one of the tools behind Show more tools in Settings. The Words tab, Look up, and the shortcut show once it is on, or once you have added a dictionary of your own. See Every setting.

Looking a word up#

• Right-click a word in the text and choose Look up “word”. This menu is in the desktop app only.
• Or put the cursor in a word and press Ctrl+Shift+D (Cmd+Shift+D on a Mac).
• Or put the cursor in a word and click Look up in the toolbar that follows your cursor. It takes the word under the cursor, or the first word of a highlight.
• Or open the Words tab in the side panel and type a word.

The panel shows the definitions, then synonyms, then antonyms. A definition lists up to five senses, and Show N more senses opens the rest. Click a synonym to put it in the text in place of the word you looked up. If you opened the panel by typing rather than from the text, clicking a word looks that word up instead.

Where the words come from#

Two sources are built in and need no account and no key.

• Wiktionary gives the definitions.
• Datamuse gives the synonyms and antonyms. When a word has no true synonyms, it gives related words instead. They show under Related words, apart from the synonyms, and clicking one looks it up rather than putting it in the text.

Every lookup is saved for thirty days. A word you have looked up before works with no internet at all. A word you have not shows “Could not reach the dictionary. Words you looked up before still work offline.”

Using another dictionary#

Settings has a Dictionary section. The two boxes at the top choose which source answers each half of a lookup. Both start on the built-in one, and you never have to touch this.

Press Add a dictionary to see the list FoxQuill already knows how to set up:

Pick one and FoxQuill shows the steps for that dictionary, a button that opens its sign-up page, and one box to paste the key into. FoxQuill already knows the rest.

Check it works looks up the word “novel” with the key you pasted and tells you what came back. A definition on the screen means it is working.

If Merriam-Webster does not work#

Merriam-Webster gives you a different key for each reference. Your account page lists them one under the other, like this:

Key (Dictionary):  a1ab38d1-7beb-4258-bd82-d4e5a78e7dd9
Key (Thesaurus):   612a66fe-06c3-403a-b541-26b8b752436b

The Collegiate Dictionary wants the one marked Dictionary. The Collegiate Thesaurus wants the one marked Thesaurus. Swapping them gives an answer FoxQuill cannot read, and Check it works says so.

Setting one up by hand#

For a dictionary FoxQuill has never heard of, Add a dictionary then Set one up by hand asks for:

• A name.
• A kind: a dictionary gives definitions, a thesaurus gives synonyms.
• A request URL with {word} where the word goes. If the site wants a key in the address, paste it straight into this line.
• A header name and value, if the site wants the key in a header. Leave both empty when the key goes in the address.
• Paths into the answer.

Writing a path#

A path says where in the answer to look.

Results picks the list of entries. The other paths are read inside each entry.

The Test button looks up the word “novel” and shows two things: what FoxQuill made of the answer, and the answer itself. Read the shape in the second, then write the paths to match.