HowTo: Define a Word

My sister, who was a teacher, used to have the most infuriating habit of answering my question about an unfamiliar word with, "Look it up in the dictionary!"

She was an evil, evil woman.

Of course, now as an adult, I automatically go to the dictionary to look up a word that I don't recognize or can't figure out from contextual clues. I also have spell check and the internet available much of the time and can quickly check out a new word. My problem is that in spite of my sister's guidance , I am a poor speller. Google comes in handy when even my spell checker can't figure out what I am trying to spell.

In Google's search bar I type in: define: partesan

Google politely asks me: "Did you mean: define: partisan"

Why yes, that was the word I was trying to spell. Just in case, I click on the word and a page full of definitions and links come up. Yup, I was trying to write about "a fervent and even militant proponent of something."

On those occasions where Google doesn't recognize my butchery of the language, I can try different spellings until finally I hit on the right combination or something close enough that Google can give me the right spelling.