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WikiLook Offers Definitions On-Page
Posted by Gina Trapani at 9:00 PM on July 21, 2008
All platforms with Firefox: You already know how to Google a word's definition, but to find out what a term means without having to switch tabs you need WikiLook. The WikiLook Firefox extension adds very useful functionality to the browser: With Wikilook installed, when you come across a word you don't know, press and hold the Shift key and move your mouse pointer over it. WikiLook will load the definition (pulled from Wiktionary) in a green tooltip on the spot (as shown). WikiLook is a free download for Firefox, and should be #11 on our top 10 online language tools for word nerds.
Tags: extensions | firefox | organise | wikilook
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
cHiCkenCOW
Posted 9:21 PM 21/7/08
Sweet I just uninstalled my Defineword addon. This seems to work more efficiently. But holding down shift can be annoying, just highlight the word and move your mouse.
cHiCkenCOW
nordtomme
Posted 9:49 PM 21/7/08
I haven't tried WikiLook, but I think AnswerTips from Answers.com does a good job. And it dosn't have to be limited just to FF either (unless that's what you prefer).
nordtomme
Popstar Dave
Posted 10:06 PM 21/7/08
Nice... I've been looking for an extension to replace WordWeb for a while now. I looked at 'Inline Google Definitions 0.5' a bit, but it's been out of development for a year and a half (yet for some reason, still works with FF3). So I think I'll stick with WikiLook.
Popstar Dave
spineduke
Posted 11:12 PM 21/7/08
Greasemonkey [addons.mozilla.org] + LookItUp2 script [userscripts.org]
work nicely for me. Same onscreen definitions.
The advantage with this setup, is you can choose what to set your searches against. Google, Wikipedia, IMBD, etc.
spineduke
mekaeel
Posted 11:07 PM 21/7/08
I personally like the addon Quick TransLation (qtl), it has several languages that I usually encounter in websites and need to understand. You can also search multiple dictionaries at once which turned out to be very helpful.
However, the only drawback I find is that it works by highlighting the word. So when I want to translate a word in the middle of a link I find myself stuck as it will open the link and I still will not be able to highlight the word :(
That's why I found this addon interesting since I only need to hover over the word and that's it :)
I'll try to contact the owner of QTL addon and tell him about this right now.
mekaeel
Raydancer
Posted 11:05 PM 21/7/08
@worldcupnj: Great minds think alike...just some more slowly than others ;)
Raydancer
Raydancer
Posted 11:03 PM 21/7/08
Dictionary Tooltip is very good and does the same thing. There's a paid version and a trial version...but the trial version is fully featured and is just an update behind the paid version. Here's a direct link to the free one.
Raydancer
worldcupnj
Posted 10:57 PM 21/7/08
Not bad, but I think I still prefer the Dictionary Tooltip Extension
[www.rjonna.com]
*Link to the free version is on the right under "Try Previous Version Free"
Dictionary Tooltip is much quicker and has a list of a dozen different dictionary's preloaded to select from including answers.com
worldcupnj
Dr. Vrein
Posted 5:57 AM 22/7/08
For the love of God, please someone feature WORDWEB. It's the best dictionary and thesaurus that runs seamlessly in the background. Just highlight any word form anywhere, hit Ctrl+Alt+W and you got your definition right there.
Dr. Vrein
Dr. Vrein
Posted 5:59 AM 22/7/08
Wait, my bad. WORDWEB has already been featured on 2007 :P
Dr. Vrein
yankervitch
Posted 11:15 PM 21/7/08
In a similar vein - is there a firefox add-on that will disable the pop-up dictionary that appears when highlighting a word on the NYT page?
Occasionally I'll accidentally highlight a word or a whole paragraph while scrolling down and I've found it incredibly annoying.
yankervitch