Google Launches Dictionary, Drops Answers.com

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes "Google has expanded its remit once again with the quiet launch of Google Dictionary. Google word search definitions now redirect to Google Dictionary instead of to Google's long term thesaurus goto site, Answers.com, which is expected to take a serious hit in traffic as a result. Dictionary pages are noticeably more plain and faster loading than their Answers.com equivalents, and unusually feature web citations for the definitions of each word. This means that, unlike most dictionaries, Google considers ginormous a word."

define:-searches are not redirected

[Eudial]

Doesn't look like it's fully deployed yet. Google searches of the form "define:word" are not redirected to google dictionary yet. Which is a shame. Because that's one hell of an useful way of looking up terms.

Re:Good

[narcberry]

Who cares about popups, now we have a standardized scrabble dictionary!

Re:Google Dictionary?

[jack2000]

Because it's also what answers.com does too. You wouldn't want a metasearch engine referencing another metasearch engine.
On that path madness dwells.

Re:I don't care about "most dictionaries"...

[HawkinsD]

That's really interesting, thanks. The main dictionary (oed.com) is $295/year. I didn't know they had a concise one for free.

And it really is concise. One (really good) definition. Not 37 links, like the Google dictionary.

Not that there's anything wrong with 37 links. But sometimes I just want to want to know the definition of the word.

Doesn't "define:" already work fine?

[Khashishi]

is there something I'm missing?

Re:Urban Dictionary and so on

[thetoadwarrior]

I've always felt Urban Dictionary needs some sort of moderation. You can't trust one person to know every single bit of slang but there is some much rubbish on UD that, imo, it can be more or less useless sometimes.

huh?

[bcrowell]

Am I the only one to have the following three reactions?

1. I remember answers.com solely as one of those annoying sites that mirror's Wikipedia's content, polluting search results with fifty copies of the same WP article. It astonishes me to find out that Google has ever been associated with one of these things; they all strike me as sleazy attempts to sop up some ad revenue without actually making any positive contribution of their own. I would have expected Google to try to filter out such things, not to be associated with them.
2. Huh? What is a "Google word search definition?" Okay, click through to the LA times blog, which say, "Previously, the 'definition' button at the top right of all Google searches for words would direct users to entries on the Wikipedia-like Answers.com site. Now those links go to Google Dictionary, a less colorful, less cluttered interface." Double huh? Never noticed such a thing before. I did two Google searches on dictionary words just now, and neither one came up with a "'definition' button at the top right." I've never noticed one in the past, and I'm not seeing one now.
3. Aparently the OP doesn't know what a thesaurus is.

Re:huh?

[maxume]

Answers.com provides information from lots of other sources too. If you don't believe it, just go take a look...

Re:When google finally presses the evil button...

[amRadioHed]

Did you look at the whole page of results from google? It has the excrement definition in the "related phrases" and "web definitions" sections.

No ginormous? You need a better dictionary

[Tim C]

I'm 35 and was using the word "ginormous" as a kid. Sure enough, it's in the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary [cambridge.org].

Re:Google Dictionary?

[Opyros]

OneLook has some other cool features, too, e.g. reverse lookup, pattern matching, and acronym-only search.

Re:Wiktionary.org?

[icegreentea]

Guessing you didn't RTFA. Or try the google link. Google Dictionary is still an definition aggregating thing from a bunch of sources (just like answers.com one). That includes wikitionary in the list.

Re:When google finally presses the evil button...

[Blue Stone]

Yeah, I did. What I saw is a bunch of links to other sites that define related phrases.

When i click on a definition link that's on Answers.com, I get what you would expect from a dictionary - a bunch of definitions for the word I was inquiring about. Google Dictionary doesn't do that (in this case) - it gives one single definition out of the many available and then gives me other links to follow for what it calls ' related phrases'. In other words, i have to go to yet more sites to get the definition I was looking for when I clicked 'definition' and was taken to Google Dictionary.

It's not a dictionary. It's 'some' definitions (one in this case) and then a buch of links to other sites that may have the definition i want. Why do i want to hop from site to site in search of my definition? That's what i thought I was clicking on 'definition' for.

Re:Urban Dictionary and so on

[gmrath]

What every you do, check the link for #3. Absolutely hilarious . . . and nothing like the his example, although that's pretty funny, too.