The Dictionary widget in OS X 10.4 is a convenient ( and nice - looking ) way to reckon up the casual parole in the dictionary or synonym finder . Its surgery is obviously straightforward — hit F12 to impart up Dashboard , get to the Dictionary contraption if it ’s not presently showing , then typecast your parole into the search boxful in the upper proper corner of the widget .
There are , however , a duo of nuances to this little whatsis that you might not be aware of . First , as with textual matter in many OS X program , you could get the lookup box to show you possible completions base on the character you ’ve typecast so far . How ? Just press and hold Control , Option , or Command , then urge the Escape key , and you ’ll see a drop - down list of potential completions . Scroll or arrow down to the word you ’d wish to use , wardrobe Return , and its definition will come along .
( In an software like TextEdit , you may just press Escape by itself to see the completions . In the Dictionary doojigger , however , Escape by itself will cancel your input . By holding any changer paint first , it seems the gismo see the Escape key , which causes the list of closing to display . )
The other trick with the Dictionary gimmick involves what you could do once you have a definition visible in the widget . Typerainfor instance , and you ’ll see that rainwater is “ moisture contract from the atmosphere that devolve visibly in disjoined drop . ” And a very clear definition it is ! But see that half - circle with the “ R ” on it sticking out on the left edge of the whatsis ? get across that , and you ’ll see a list of other known Word of God and phrases that start with “ rainwater . ” get across any of those Good Book to jump to their definition ; click the “ radius ” again ( before clicking another Holy Writ ) , and you ’ll tack back to the standard definition of “ rain . ”
Toggle the gadget from Dictionary mode to Thesaurus mode , and the same trick oeuvre — here it will show you a list of other words in the synonym finder that are similar to the choose word . Toggle the “ R ” again , and you ’re back to the thesaurus entrance for “ rainwater . ”
So while it may seem round-eyed on the control surface , the Dictionary widget has at least a couple play a trick on up its sleeve .
