I use two online sources to check spellings and etymology of words: Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster. In hand, Webster's Unabridged and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. To make the game more interesting and challenging, you'll often notice different answers from various sources, so I like to find 2-3 dictionaries with the same results.
What are your favorite dictionaries? On your desk? Online? What about the dictionary in your word processing program? Do you tweak that to suit your writing? Leave us a comment. Can a writer ever have enough dictionaries?
Random House Webster's unabridged dictionary sits near my desk and gets plenty of use. When I don't like what that book has to tell me, I try google. I also have a great software program called stylewriter.
I have the Random House unabridged, too, from my days as a rep. The duct tape on the binding is particularly attractive. Snort!
Char, tell us about Stylewriter sometime soon.
But, I have started using the online dictionaries more and more. Less back strain.
I use the online dictionaries quite a bit. I can compare results in several in a flash.
I am a sucker for dictionary.com. I do have a mini Webster dictionary, but unless I'm playing scrabble, I rarely use it.
Really, I think the Word dictionary could be completely re-done. Who was it that told me the word "blog" isn't even in the standard version. It also seems full of errors. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Congratulations, Meg. We should have had a prize! Maybe my Duct Tape Dictionary? I can't give him up, though. I mean, he even has a name.