Dictionary plugin: gone or not?

[James McLean]

I see several old posts explaining that the Dictionary plugin of yore broke many years ago, which explains why it does not appear in my Quicksilver's list of available plugins.  And yet, the Plugin Repository lists the Dictionary plugin as having been updated 2022-04-29.  Does that mean that it is somehow available again?  If so, how to I get it?

Thanks,

-- James

[Rob McBroom]

On 18 May 2023, at 15:06, James McLean wrote:

I see several old posts explaining that the Dictionary plugin of yore broke
many years ago, which explains why it does not appear in my Quicksilver's
list of available plugins. And yet, the Plugin Repository

<https://qsapp.com/plugins.php> lists the Dictionary plugin as having been

updated 2022-04-29. Does that mean that it is somehow available again? If
so, how to I get it?

It probably got recompiled during the mass recompiling for Apple Silicon, but I think it’s still incompatible with recent versions of macOS.

FYI, it looks like the Dictionary app supports a dict: URL scheme, so you could add a custom web search to Quicksilver for dict://*** and then use the Find With… or Search For… actions. Once that search is defined (assuming you name it “Dictionary”), you can also create a trigger for “Current Selection ⇥ Find With… ⇥ Dictionary”. (Although I’d argue just using the built-in ⌃⌘D is easier.)

--
Rob McBroom

[James McLean]

@Rob McBroom: I totally agree about ⌃⌘D, or even better a 3-finger track pad tap (since the immediately preceding action would be a selection).  However, that assumes the word is already on screen.  For looking up a word out of my head, a text entry into QS would be more direct.

I can confirm that the custom web search works.  However, so does using QS to open the Dictionary app, which conveniently opens with the text entry field selected.  So the custom web search is still not the best option.

I believe that the old plugin gave results directly, without opening the app.  But I guess that's not available any more.  Thanks for the pointer about Apple Silicon recompile.