reverse dictionary

[swirly]

Alright, so in a dictionary you look up a word and it tells you what the word means. What I'm wondering is, is there a place where you can enter what something means and it will give you a list of words? I say "place" because this doesn't really sound like something that could be in book form like a dictionary is, but rather would be a site online using search technology. So for instance, say I wanted to find a term for "a group of islands." This reverse dictionary would return archipelago or any other words that might meet that definition. So does anyone know of such a site? It seems like it could be useful.

[swirly]

I tried some google searches before posting that, but was having trouble coming up with a search phrase that really was appropriate. So then after posting that I went and played a game for a bit (maple story if you must know) and then it just kind of hit me. I called it a reverse dictionary, so wouldn't others do the same? So I went to google, entered reverse dictionary, hit search, and the very first result was http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml which pretty much answers my question. I'm sure there are others in the google listing too, but thats the very first result. So yeah, such a thing is out there. : )

[[wcip]Angel]

Wow! I never even knew such a thing existed. I ran a test of "hell dog" and there it was, the first entry: "Cerberus". I bookmarked this site, it's going to be very helpful! Thanks a lot :)

[MongoJerry]

That site is kind of neat. I was just going to say that a thesaurus could be considered a kind of reverse dictionary.

[[wcip]Angel]

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I'm looking for a word, and the Reverse Dictionary didn't exactly help. I'm looking for a synonym to the expression "resulted in".

e.g. "The French-German embitterment which stems back from the late 1800s ________ in the second world war."

e.g. "The attack on Pearl Harbour, as well as further escalations in Europe __________ in America's decision to use the atomic bomb over Japan"

What I'm looking for is a word which states that all these events lead up to something. The word I'm looking for is not very much used, but every native speaker of English probably knows it.

edit: I think there's a "u" in the word; if that helps :)

edit#2: I'm actually not writing an essay on WW2, but those were the best examples I could come up with. :) The essay I'm currently writing is called "The [R]evolution of the Printing Press and its effects on literacy, writing and society".

[Nystul]

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I'm looking for a word, and the Reverse Dictionary didn't exactly help. I'm looking for a synonym to the expression "resulted in".

e.g. "The French-German embitterment which stems back from the late 1800s ________ in the second world war."

e.g. "The attack on Pearl Harbour, as well as further escalations in Europe __________ in America's decision to use the atomic bomb over Japan"

What I'm looking for is a word which states that all these events lead up to something. The word I'm looking for is not very much used, but every native speaker of English probably knows it.
[right][snapback]72412[/snapback][/right]

The common word that comes to mind for this would be "caused". "Cause" can be used as either a verb (e.g. The wind caused my shot to miss the goal.) or a noun (e.g. Wind and poor kicking form are two possible causes of a missed shot.)

[[wcip]Angel]

It's not "caused." It's a longer word than that, and quite a bit rarer.

[[wcip]Angel]

Someone on another board found the word I was looking for. It was "culminated".

[ShadowHM]

Someone on another board found the word I was looking for. It was "culminated".
[right][snapback]72416[/snapback][/right]

A thesaurus would have helped there, no?

I have a number of dictionaries in this house - ranging from "The Canadian Children's Dictionary" to the Oxford English Dictionary. One of the more useful ones is The Visual Dictionary. While it is useless for verbs and adjectives, it is extremely useful for nouns.

[Nystul]

Someone on another board found the word I was looking for. It was "culminated".
[right][snapback]72416[/snapback][/right]

Ahh, that makes sense. Be careful with the usage, though. It is more like "ending with" or "climaxing/peaking with" than "resulting in". It's a great fit for your first example, but in the second one it seems a bit off to me.

[Occhidiangela]

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I'm looking for a word, and the Reverse Dictionary didn't exactly help. I'm looking for a synonym to the expression "resulted in".

e.g. "The French-German embitterment which stems back from the late 1800s ________ in the second world war."

e.g. "The attack on Pearl Harbour, as well as further escalations in Europe __________ in America's decision to use the atomic bomb over Japan"

What I'm looking for is a word which states that all these events lead up to something. The word I'm looking for is not very much used, but every native speaker of English probably knows it.

edit: I think there's a "u" in the word; if that helps :)

edit#2: I'm actually not writing an essay on WW2, but those were the best examples I could come up with. :) The essay I'm currently writing is called "The [R]evolution of the Printing Press and its effects on literacy, writing and society".
[right][snapback]72412[/snapback][/right]

You appear to be looking for a word phrase ending in a preposition.

In the example given, you could replace "resulted in"

"Led to"

":Contributed to."

"Was a contributor to"

"Effected.

"Influenced"

"Factored into"

Hope that helps, if causation is too strong a term for the point you are trying to get across.

Occhi

[Arnath]

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I'm looking for a word, and the Reverse Dictionary didn't exactly help. I'm looking for a synonym to the expression "resulted in".

e.g. "The French-German embitterment which stems back from the late 1800s ________ in the second world war."

e.g. "The attack on Pearl Harbour, as well as further escalations in Europe __________ in America's decision to use the atomic bomb over Japan"

What I'm looking for is a word which states that all these events lead up to something. The word I'm looking for is not very much used, but every native speaker of English probably knows it.

edit: I think there's a "u" in the word; if that helps :)

edit#2: I'm actually not writing an essay on WW2, but those were the best examples I could come up with. :) The essay I'm currently writing is called "The [R]evolution of the Printing Press and its effects on literacy, writing and society".
[right][snapback]72412[/snapback][/right]

"Culminated" perhaps?

Arnath