Get the Mac Dictionary Popup to Function in Google Docs?

Questions & Suggestions
1

Hi there,

Google Docs intentionally blocks that nifty 3 finger tap gesture on Mac that lets you pull up dictionary results based on text you've selected.

Is it possible for KM to:

  • Take text in a selection,
  • Paste it into a floating window of some kind (above all others)
  • Then activate the normal Mac pop-up dictionary?

Or is there a better way?

Many thanks!

2

Hey Rob,

⌃⌘D is generally the default keyboard shortcut for looking up the selection in the dictionary.

However – this doesn't seem to work with Google Docs, so a little Keyboard Maestro magic is required to get things working again.

-Chris

Google Docs – Select Word Under Cursor and Look-Up in Dictionary v1.00.kmmacros (9.7 KB)
Keyboard Maestro Export

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3

Hey Rob, it looks like this is your first time posting so welcome!

Chris (ccstone) provided a nice solution. I’ll do a little shameless self-promotion and propose another one that admittedly is much more complex but you might like. It’s a macro I built about a year ago to look up a word’s definition and display it in a window. I won’t go into details here because everything is well documented in the link below. Check it out, and if you think it might work for you and you have questions about it, feel free to comment in that thread or reach out privately in a PM.

-Also Chris

KMF: Use Dict (Homebrew Package) to Get a Word’s Definition

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