Dictionary

Before you begin

• When iPhone asks, allow access to the microphone and to speech recognition. Reverbot can’t hear you without both.
• Connect headphones to keep explanations private. Without headphones, they appear on screen instead, unless Speakerphone is on in Settings.
• Have an internet connection, and either free questions left or your own AI key in Settings › AI & API Keys.
• Say the word in English. Dictionary hears English speech.

Tip: To try it on the real screen first, open Help with the ? button and tap Walk me through Dictionary. The walkthrough is free and uses an example definition.

Look up a word

1. On the main screen, tap Dictionary under Listening mode.
2. Tap the big button.
3. Wait until “Listening for words...” appears under the big button.
4. Say a word or phrase, such as “ephemeral” or “the whole nine yards”, then stop talking.

The explanation comes after the pause set in Silence duration before answering. Dictionary then listens for the next word until you tap the big button again. While an explanation plays, tap Tap to skip to stop it; afterward, tap Repeat that to hear it again.

Get the meaning in context

Say the word, then the sentence you heard it in, as one request:

• “What does bank mean in I sat on the bank of the river?” — the edge of a river, not a place for money.
• “Define pitch as used in he made a sales pitch” — the meaning that fits a sales pitch.

Dictionary explains the one meaning that fits the sentence, rather than the most common one. Say the whole request before you pause. You don’t need to say the quotation marks.

Things to say

Try these in Dictionary:

• “Ephemeral” — a word on its own gets its most common meaning.
• “Define ubiquitous” — a request with “define” is always answered, however common the word.
• “How do you spell necessary?” — the spelling.
• “What’s another word for happy?” — a word that means the same.
• “What’s the opposite of generous?” — a word that means the opposite.
• “Where does the word salary come from?” — where the word comes from.
• “How do you pronounce quinoa?” — how to say it.
• “Is irregardless a real word?” — whether it’s a real word, and how it’s used.
• “What is the capital of France?” — no answer: that’s a question for Questions.

Choose how much detail you hear

Tap the Concise pill under Input & answer to switch to Extended, and tap it again to switch back.

• Concise explains a word in one short sentence, with no example.
• Extended adds a short example or usage note, in up to three sentences.

The next explanation uses the new length. The same choice is in Settings, under Answer Style, and it applies to Questions too.

Listen to the explanation

• With headphones, Dictionary keeps listening while an explanation plays, so you can say the next word straight away. Without headphones, listening pauses while Reverbot speaks.
• If “Connect headphones to hear it” appears, the explanation is on screen instead of spoken. Connect headphones, or tap Speakerphone to hear it out loud. That turns on Speakerphone in Settings, so later answers play out loud too until you turn it off there.
• To keep background talk from being looked up, tap the microphone pill under Input & answer to choose Solo, which favors your voice.

Change Dictionary settings

Touch and hold Dictionary, then tap Settings. Or, in Settings, under Listening Mode, tap the sliders button beside Dictionary. From top to bottom:

• How Dictionary works opens this Help topic.
• Under Button style, Different button style for Dictionary gives Dictionary its own look in the big button, and Style chooses it.
• How long it waits, under Silence duration before answering, sets the pause after you stop talking. If you stop mid-sentence, it waits one second more.
• AI chooses which AI explains words, or keeps the default from AI & API Keys.
• Different voice for Dictionary and Different speed for Dictionary give explanations their own voice and speed.
• Restore Dictionary defaults puts these settings back after you confirm.

What it costs

• Each explanation uses one of your free questions while you have them, even one you skip partway through. A request that gets no answer costs nothing.
• An AI chosen under AI in Dictionary settings explains words on your own key for it, and that company bills you.
• When your free questions are used, the line under the big button says what’s next: a free trial, a subscription or your own AI key.

If it doesn’t work

• If no words appear under the big button, open iPhone Settings, go to Apps › Reverbot and turn on Microphone and Speech Recognition. Then tap the big button twice to restart.
• If the word is misheard, say it again as a request, such as “Define serendipity”, or add the sentence you heard it in.
• If nothing is said back, make sure the request is about a word. General questions get no answer in Dictionary; ask them in Questions.
• If Dictionary answers before you finish the sentence you’re quoting, drag How long it waits toward Longest in Dictionary settings.
• If an explanation appears but you don’t hear it, check your headphones, or turn on Speakerphone in Settings.

Note: Explanations are written by AI and can be wrong. Check specialist terms against the source where you found them.

Still not working? In Settings, under Feedback, tap Report a Bug and describe what you did, what you expected and what happened.