How to Get Instant Access to Dictionary and Thesaurus in Mac OS X Mail

A dictionary is the language user's best friend, and a thesaurus is the dictionary's soul mate. As you read and write emails (the occasional picture is okay), would it not be nice to have at hand a dictionary to define words, guide pronunciation and elucidate etymologies as well as a thesaurus to find the right word by way of synonyms and antonyms?

Mac OS X comes with The New Oxford American Dictionary and The Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus built in. Mac OS X Mail makes accessing these powerful tools particularly easy.

Get Instant Access to Dictionary and Thesaurus in Mac OS X Mail

To instantly access dictionary and thesaurus in Mac OS X Mail:

• Place the mouse cursor over the desired word.
• Press Command-Ctrl-D (think define).
  • To access the thesaurus, select Oxford Thesaurus from the Oxford Dictionary drop-down menu.
  • To see derivatives, origins and phrases, click More....

Look Up Multiple Words in a Row

This shortcut to the dictionaries works both when you read and when you compose messages. To look up multiple words quickly, keep Command-Ctrl pressed as you move the mouse cursor over desired words (you can release the D key).

The same keyboard combination also brings up definitions in many other Mac OS X applications (e.g. Safari).