Terminal & AI Agents

Look Up in the Terminal

On macOS, select terminal text and choose Look Up to read definitions from every system dictionary you have activated, directly in an anchored popover. Open the full Dictionary app only when you want to continue beyond the quick definition.

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Why You Need This

How this feature boosts your daily productivity

Terminal output, documentation, and AI responses regularly contain unfamiliar technical or English terms. Copying a word into a browser or switching to Dictionary breaks your reading flow; Look Up keeps the definition beside the selected output and respects the dictionary order you already configured in macOS.

How It Works

Get started in 4 simple steps

1
1

Select a word or phrase

Highlight up to 100 characters in a terminal, then open the selection context menu.

2
2

Choose Look Up

Click the contextual Look Up label, which includes a shortened preview of the selected text.

3
3

Read every matching dictionary

The in-app popover shows a section for each active macOS dictionary that knows the term, with pronunciation and multiple senses when available.

4
4

Continue in Dictionary if needed

Click Open in Dictionary for the full native app, or press Escape or click outside to close the popover and keep working.

Without 1DevTool

The manual way vs. the 1DevTool way

The Hard Way

# Hit an unfamiliar term in the output
# Select and copy it
# Alt-tab to a browser
# Search, read, tab back
# Lose your place in the terminal
# Repeat for the next word

The 1DevTool Way

Select the word, choose Look Up.
Read every active macOS dictionary in place.
Escape to close and keep working.

Key Capabilities

Everything included with Look Up in the Terminal

Look up selected terminal words and phrases without switching apps
Read results from every active macOS system dictionary
Preserve the dictionary order configured in Dictionary settings
Display headwords, phonetics, and multiple definition senses
Anchor and clamp the popover beside the terminal selection
Cache recent definitions during the current app session
Open the same term in the full Dictionary app
Fall back cleanly when no dictionary contains the selected term

Why It Matters

The productivity impact of having terminal & ai agents built into your workspace

Definitions Without the Detour

Read a term beside the output that raised it, instead of copying it into a browser and losing your reading flow.

Every Dictionary You Enabled

Results come from each active macOS dictionary in the order you already configured, not a single generic source.

Stay in the Terminal

The popover anchors to your selection and closes with Escape, so a quick lookup never pulls you out of your session.

More When You Want It

Open the full Dictionary app in a click when a quick definition is not enough.

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Session Persistence

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