If you need to look up a word, why not use an online dictionary?
There are now several free online dictionaries on the web. Most of them offer additional resources on language such as 'a word a day' or bilingual dictionaries. Some online dictionaries can also help you to expand your vocabulary, not just check the meanings or spellings of words.
I reviewed online dictionaries recently and tested them with a list of words including infighting, tsunami, blogosphere and hello. Here is my top 5 with brief comments.
1. Cambridge Dictionaries Online http://dictionary.cambridge.org/. Searches the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Also has options for English/French and French/English. Nice additional feature is the 'Top 20' most searched words, updated every month.
2. Ask Oxford http://www.askoxford.com/?view=uk Searches the Oxford Compact English Dictionary. Has UK or US viewing options. Lots of additional features including 'Commonly Misspelled Words'and 'New Words in English'. Note: The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is the dictionary recommended by the United Nations.
3. Word Reference http://www.wordreference.com/ Has English dictionary, but also English to French, Spanish and Italian.
4. Merriam Webster Online http://www.m-w.com/ The best dictionary for US English. Also has an online thesaurus and a kids' dictionary.
5. Dictionary Reference (meta search) http://dictionary.reference.com/ Searches a number of online resources and displays multiple entries. Also has audio file prounciation for words.
Roget's thesaurus is searchable online at http://thesaurus.reference.com/. This is a huge resource, with lots of tips and articles on words and how to get the most out of them. See the 'Alphabet of Most Looked-Up Words in 2005'.
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Other online dictionaries you may find useful
* http://acronymfinder.com/ Your first stop on the web for acronyms eg. UNCTAD, PDF, ICTY.
* http://www.visualthesaurus.com/ A new approach to word-finding. Search for a word and it produces a visual map of that word and related words. At the moment free only for a trial period. An amazing resource.
* http://www.infovisual.info/ Another new concept. A visual dictionary in topic areas - plants, animals, the human body and transport.
* http://dictionary.law.com/ A large dictionary of legal terms in English covering both US and British systems.
* http://www.ircpolitics.org/glossary.html A glossary of political terms used in US and British English.
* http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~rvdstich/eugloss/welcome.html A multilingual dictionary of medical and health-related terms. Translations are available into nine European languages. The site is sponsored by the European Commission.
* http://euabc.com/ Another EU-sponsored site. A multi-lingual (ten languages!) dictionary of terms used in the European Union debate and EU documents, including the new Constitution.
