Merriam-Webster online

Posted by MichaelFR on February 12, 2004

In Reply to: Merriam-Webster online posted by Bob on February 11, 2004

: : : : : : : My old standby, Merriam-Webster online, is going from a free service to subscription. I am dismayed.

: : : : : : I have been worried that this was going to happen.

: : : : : : Please provide a link to where you got the information that it IS GOING TO HAPPEN.

: : : : : www.merriam-webster.com/

: : : : : Instead of a definition, I got this message:

: : : : : Main Entry: faddle
: : : : : faddle is one of more than 1,000,000 entries available at Merriam-WebsterUnabridged.com. Click here to start your free trial!

: : : : I went back and typed some other words and was able to access definitions. Maybe it was a false alarm. Or they don't like the word "faddle."

: : : "...one of more than 1,000,000 entries available at Merriam-WebsterUnabridged.com. Click here to start your free trial!" There is a glitch in their new format OR they are pushing the subscription harder than before. I am still spooked that they will start charging. The good often do start charging e.g. ths.gardenweb. I cannot find a good Japanese Candlestick Graphics (an investment tool) that does not charge - the free ones are too small for my old eyes.

: : Looks like they're just advertising their fee-based unabridged service more effectively than they had been. Words that are in the unabridged edition but not the free edition would in the past have come up as non-existent words.

: : I also think there are so many free on-line dictionaries out there that they won't turn the whole thing into a fee-only site.

: www.dictionary.com is often useful

dictionary.cambridge.org can be helpful as well