Did you know that your Mac and your iPhone come with high quality dictionaries?

If your using Snow Leopard (OSX.6.8) and lower: Click and hold the Dock icon for Word. A menu will popup; uncheck the item Open at Login; and while your at it choose Keep in Dock. How to change the default Mac app for specific file types. Right-click on a file that uses the file type you'd like to change the default for. For example, one with a.jpg extension (a photo). Click on Get Info in the pop-up. Click Open With if the section isn't already expanded. Opening the OS X Dictionary for a selected word anywhere is: Command+Option+D. Open System Preferences Keyboard Keyboard Shortcuts. Select 'Services' in the left-hand pane, then scroll down to 'Searching' in the right-hand pane. Make sure the reveal arrow in pointed down, and 'Look Up in Dictionary.

Apple includes free bi-lingual English dictionaries for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. If you are learning any of these languages (or learning English and know any of these languages) you have easy access to these free offline dictionaries.

So where do you find these great tools? Actually it's a bit hidden.

Dictionary app on the Mac

Your Mac comes with an app called 'Dictionary', which you find in your Applications folder.

However, by default only a few dictionaries are activated. You first need to go to the Dictionary app preferences (Dictionary Menu > Preferences) and activate the foreign language dictionaries that you need.

Now you can look up words directly in the Dictionary app or using Spotlight.

Dictionaries on the iPhone or iPad

On the mobile iOS devices you cannot directly access the dictionaries. There is no dedicated app as on the Mac.

To activate the integrated dictionaries go to System Settings > General > Dictionary. There you can activate and download the languages you need.

Mac Dictionary App

Using the built-in dictionaries in Wokabulary

The Apple dictionaries are directly integrated in macOS and iOS, so you can access them from any native app.

Mac Dictionary App Keeps Opening Windows 10

On the Mac you can look up a word directly from within Wokabulary, by performing a force touch or three-finger-touch on it. (You might need to activate this feature in System Settings > Touchpad)

On your iPhone or iPad you can look up words by selecting it and then choosing 'Look Up' from the action menu.