Apple has made some improvements to the built-in Dictionary app in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. Among the new features, the actual dictionary files used in the app have been updated from the second edition (2005) of the New Oxford American English Dictionary to the third (2010) edition. The third (2010) edition of the British Oxford Dictionary of English is also included along with the British Oxford Thesaurus of English. The Shogakukan Japanese dictionaries and Apple’s own dictionary of trademark and product names have been updated as well.

The app now also uses a two-pane display, which makes it easier to navigate between words or phrases. Previously, you would be presented with only a list and have to click back and forth to the list in order to select a new word. Another welcome feature is a pop-up definition preview when a word is searched for using Spotlight. Now, hovering over the word in a Spotlight list displays the full definitions of the word instead of just the first few words of the definition. Apple has also added a new multi-touch trackpad command to its built-in dictionary. Now clicking on a word using three fingers will open up the in-line dictionary panel for that word or open that word in the dictionary app itself (depending on your Dictionary settings). Read more.

See: Túaw