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Wordsmyth Online English Dictionary-Thesaurus
Details
Main Website:
Activity Website:
Activity Description
Use this online dictionary in class whenever students need to know a definition of words or phrases or learn words with similar meanings to a given vocabulary word. You can also assign students to use the Web site to look up definitions, synonyms, find antonyms, see sample sentences, images, and animations of given vocabulary words on word lists, and hear pronunciations of words.
A registered account allows you to save and print glossaries and quizzes, select your dictionary level, add annotations to dictiionary entries and customize your experience.
Preparation
- Make sure that the Web site is not blocked at your school before using it with students.
- Set the computer's volume at an adequate volume to hear pronunciations.
- Practice using the site yourself to learn how it functions.
How-To
- Open the Example Web Site (above).
- To find a definition of a word, consider your students’ level of English. Select Beginner’s, Children’s, or Advanced Dictionary on the left using the radio buttons.
- In the search box above the radio buttons (top left text box), type in a word and choose Go.
- Choose the speaker icon to hear audio of the word’s pronunciation. The site will display phrases that use the word, its part of speech, definitions, synonyms, similar words, related words, images (not for all words), and a word’s history/etymology.
More Ways
Other tools of the site include the following:
- Quiz Makers (fill-in/cloze, matching, and multiple choice) – quizzes can be printed or played online (with timing options) and saved online (with registration)
- A "My Activities" page (on the My Wordsmyth menu) to save and share quizzes (with registration)
- Reverse Search, located on the Search Tools menu, allows you to search within the full text of dictionary entries for words, word parts, and phrases
- Puzzle Solvers – anagram and crossword solver
- Glossary Maker – create a glossary (limited to 15 words; 25 words with a public URL if you register which can be printed, and saved
- WILD, an Illustrated Learner's Dictionary, is in beta
- A couple of widgets for your browser which allows you to quickly get the definition of any word on any Web site.
Program Areas
- ESL: English as a Second Language
- ABE: Adult Basic Education
Levels
- Intermediate Low
- Intermediate High
- Advanced
- Low
- Intermediate
- High
- All Levels
Tags
listening, reading, definition, dictionary, etymology, glossary, parts of speech, puzzles, quizzes, reverse, reverse search, search, synonym, synonyms, thesaurus, vocabulary, wordsmyth, Wordsmyth Online English Dictionary-Thesaurus, anagram, crossword