Dictionaries are used to look up the meanings of words, and the correct spelling and pronunciation of words also. Everyone has access to dictionaries through either book, internet or mobile forms – even predictive text acts like a dictionary!
One of the primary reasons for using a dictionary is to find the meaning of a word. The first thing you need to do is know what letter the word begins with – all dictionaries are listed in alphabetical order. Once you have found the word in question, there will be a number of meanings and a pronunciation guide.
If you are trying to find an alternative word that means the same thing, a dictionary will not be much use. On this occasion, it will be useful to have a thesaurus handy – this is an encyclopaedia of words which mean the same thing. Again, these are listed in alphabetical order, and some words may have several different meanings.