Merriam-Webster puts the dictionary in your Android [App Reviews]

April 20, 2010 | by Andrew Kameka

Look around the room right now; how many of you can quickly reach a dictionary? Me neither, but that doesn’t have to be our fate. Master the American English language and make your bouts of confusion ephemeral with Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged.

Unabridged is a dictionary in your pocket, but the vast collection of definitions being stored in your phone makes it much smaller and convenient to have than an actual pocket dictionary. Words are quickly accessible through a search function, so you can quickly learn that ephemeral means “lasting or existing briefly.” Users can search for words by voice, or learn how to say newly-discovered words by downloading the optional audio files that pronounce certain entries. This is good for English as a second-language speakers and for people unfamiliar with certain words.

Another great feature is the ability to search for phonetically similar words, wildcards, and previously-viewed words. You can also link the app to Flash Cards, but that requires making another purchase. At a hefty $59.95 price point, users shouldn’t have to shell out another $5 for Flash Cards. If you can handle the dent this puts on the wallet, this is a great app for learning the 700,000 definitions available in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

KEY FEATURES

Provides definitions for more than 700,000 words

Perform voice search and can play audio files for help pronouncing words

Integrates with Flash Cards and shows “wildcards” based on entered text to learn about random words

CONS

Massive amount of space on the SD card required to run the app. To use the required files takes at least 28MB, and using the optional audio files brings that grand total to nearly 130MB in SD card.

Price.

App: Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary

Price: $59.95

Website: http://www.penreader.com

app reviews, dictionary, education, Lifestyle, reviews

4 Comments

zizzybaloobah says:

April 20, 2010 at 7:32 pm

Googles 'define:' operator works wonders for me, and the search results often include audio fpr pronunciation. Can't spell? they usually figure out what you wanted anyway! My recent post Red Parrot
Jason says:

April 20, 2010 at 8:08 pm

Dictionary.com is free. May lack some of these features but free is a whole lot different than $60.
@lee_mcintosh says:

April 20, 2010 at 8:12 pm

ColorDict does me and its free also, plus you can link in the thesaurus and wikipedia entries too.
fiskars x 25 says:

September 14, 2012 at 9:07 pm

Greetings from Ohio! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, wonderful blog!

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