The Macmillan English Dictionary Online has been in existence for some time but previously, it was only accessible to those who had already bought a copy of the MED in paper form.
What those who are not on Macmillan’s emailing list may not know is that this online resource is now available for everyone to use.
Like all free versions of CD-ROM dictionaries, it does not have the same functionality of the full product. However what you get is:
- the ability to search the entire dictionary
- recorded pronunciation models (British English)
- single click cross referencing
- example sentences
- frequency rating stars
- lists of phrases
- thesaurus link for each definition
I’ve been using in the classroom recently – sometimes alongside the CD-ROMs of the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and, sometimes on its own. It has been getting an enthusiastic response, especially from those of our students whose company laptops are set up to prevent them from installing any software not sanctioned by their employer.