online dictionary

American

[on-lahyn dik-shuh-ner-ee, awn-lahyn] / ˈɒnˌlaɪn ˈdɪk ʃəˌnɛr i, ˈɔnˌlaɪn /

noun

a dictionary that is available on the internet. Online dictionaries like Dictionary.com offer immediate, direct access through large databases to a word's spelling and meanings, plus a host of ancillary information, including its variant spellings, pronunciation, inflected forms, origin, and derived forms, as well as supplementary notes about how the word is used.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

online dictionaries

plural

Etymology

Origin of online dictionary

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

online dictionary

The word “Babbitt” came to signify a “materialistic, complacent, and conformist businessman,” as one online dictionary defines it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2023

The online dictionary WordNet defines it as “basically shredded cabbage.”

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 19, 2023

Warning: Do not watch this indie movie’s trailer, which could be used to illustrate “cheesy” in an online dictionary.

From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2021

I’ll take any meaning or pronunciation that you find in an online dictionary.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 15, 2021

Since then, the website has offered a quarterly update of the online dictionary, with around 1,000 new or revised entries each time.

From Booknology: The eBook (1971-2010) by Marie Lebert

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023