There are a lot of online reference resources out there. In this short series, I'm going to highlight just some of them. Here are the primary types I'll take a look at:
- Dictionaries (this post)
- Thesauri
- Quotations
- Style & Grammar
- Word of the Day
- Fun With Words
The American Heritage Dictionary
Online but also available as an iOS or Android app.
Cambridge Dictionaries
Cambridge University Press publishes a range of dictionaries for learners of English all around the world.
Dictionary.com
The world's largest free online dictionary with definitions, spell check, word origins, example sentences, pronunciations, and a Word of the Day service.
Google
Type "define < your word goes here>" in any Google search box and Google will bring up the definition as the first search result.
Merriam-Webster.com
For more than 150 years, Merriam-Webster has been America's leading and most-trusted provider of language information. (Note from Scott: Or so says their About page)
OneLook.com
Pulls in definitions from multiple sources.
UrbanDictionary.com
Slang definitions. I guess some people out there actually use these words in sentences.
Wordnik.com
Beautifully done definition pages. Where my Word of the Day posts originate.
YourDictionary.com
It's YOUR dictionary, not mine.