Idioms and phrasal verbs, whole
Point at one word and AALookup notices the phrase it belongs to, so “out of the way” is explained as “out of the way”.
For ebooks and novels
Read the novel. The dictionary keeps up.
Whatever app your books are in, a three-finger tap or one shortcut opens the meaning beside the word, in the sense this sentence is using. Idioms are recognised as idioms. Every word you look up can be kept with its sentence.
No account needed. Your dictionaries stay on your computer.
What you can do
Readers that block selection
Kindle for Mac and PC, and readers that lock their text, are read from the screen instead. The panel opens the same way.
A word list built from your reading
Save a word with one tap and it comes back for review with the sentence from the book.
Free, no sign-up
How to start
- Download and open AALookup
macOS or Windows, under 20 MB, no account needed.
- Let it see your screen
On a Mac, allow Accessibility so it can read the word under your pointer, and Screen Recording for text in games and images. Windows asks for nothing.
- Point at a word
Three-finger tap on a Mac, or press your shortcut on Windows. The meaning appears next to the word.
What users say
I'm a Mac user, and the trackpad gesture alone made me download it. Lookups are fast, and it combines the strengths of dictionaries and AI. The built-in three-finger Look Up often gets the range of a Chinese word wrong; AALookup is spot-on in English and nearly always right in Chinese. Genuinely smooth.
It's not just fast, it's that you can look things up anywhere. And the interface is modern; it feels like my dictionary app jumped from an antique straight into the present.
Common questions
Which readers work?
Any app on macOS or Windows: Apple Books, Kindle, Readest, Calibre, Thorium, a browser. If the reader hides its text, AALookup reads the screen.
Does it work with Kindle for PC?
Yes. Kindle doesn't expose its text, so AALookup reads it from the screen. Allow Screen Recording on macOS; Windows needs nothing extra.
Can I keep reading offline?
Yes. Your dictionaries are on your computer and work without a connection. Only an AI explanation needs the internet.
Is it free?
Yes. Dictionary lookups are free, offline and unlimited. AI explanations come with a free trial.
Get AALookup
Free download
Local dictionaries work offline and without limits. AI explanations come with a free trial.
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