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Binary command of the same name
Authored by: babbage on Apr 11, '02 12:20:08PM
If you have Fink installed, the Fink project has ported a nice little dict command that is very versatile:
% sudo fink -y install dict
[give fink time to download, build, and install for you]

% rehash

% dict --help
dict 1.5.5/rf on Darwin 5.3
Copyright 1997, 1998 Rickard E. Faith (faith@cs.unc.edu)
-h --host specify server
-p --port specify port
-d --database select a database to search
-m --match match instead of define
-s --strategy strategy for matching or defining
-c --config specify configuration file
-C --nocorrect disable attempted spelling correction
-D --dbs show available databases
-S --strats show available search strategies
-H --serverhelp show server help
-i --info show information about a database
-I --serverinfo show information about the server
-a --noauth disable authentication
-u --user username for authentication
-k --key shared secret for authentication
-V --version display version information
-L --license display copyright and license information
--help display this help
-v --verbose be verbose
-r --raw trace raw transaction
-P --pager program specify program to use as pager (- for none)
--debug set debugging flag
--html output HTML format
--pipesize specify buffer size for pipelining (256)
--client additional text for client command

% dict zeitgeist
1 definition found

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:

Zeitgeist Zeit"geist`, n. [G.; zeit time + geist spirit. See
{Tide}, n.; {Ghost}, n.]
The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral
state or temper characteristic of any period of time.

% dict -D
Databases available:
elements Elements database 20001107
web1913 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
wn WordNet (r) 1.6
gazetteer U.S. Gazetteer (1990)
jargon Jargon File (4.2.3, 23 NOV 2000)
foldoc The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01)
easton Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
hitchcock Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's)
devils THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)
world95 The CIA World Factbook (1995)
vera V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms 13 March 2001
Etc. Not that there's anything wrong with the alias hack -- it's a very good use of the command actually -- but this is a cool little program that does much the same thing, much more dynamically. Try it! :-)

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