Unlike most dictionaries, CUBE allows you to search not only by spelling but also by sound. Separate search windows are provided for spelling and sound; you can use either of these windows alone, or you can use them together to search for words which have a given spelling and/or a given pronunciation.
(The chart of CUBE’s sound symbols is here.)
(Audio in CUBE: each word in your search results is linked to the resource Youglish.com. If you click on the play button, you will be taken to transcribed YouTube recordings in which you can hear that word spoken by real people, in real contexts. Not all CUBE’s words are available on Youglish yet, but its database is rapidly expanding in size and accuracy.)
CUBE will return all the words that contain the letters you enter.
| search | finds | does not find |
|---|---|---|
| think | think, rethink, think-tank, unthinkingly… | thought |
| help | help, helped, self-help, unhelpful | hello |
The hashmark or word boundary symbol # limits your search to the beginning or the end of the word.
| search | finds | does not find |
|---|---|---|
| #think | think, think-tank… | rethink, unthinkingly |
| help# | help, self-help… | helped, unhelpful |
Double quotes (") are synonymous with the hashmark, so you can also type "think or help". Type #think# or "think" if you want to find this one word only.
Spelling searches are case-insensitive. You may enter words written with accents, like élan, with or without accents, but if you enter a character with an accent mark, only identical characters are matched. If you’re uncertain, omit accent marks.
| search | finds | does not find |
|---|---|---|
| Thank | thank, Thanksgiving… | |
| THANK | thank, Thanksgiving… | |
| élan | élan, mélange… | Cleveland, freelance |
| elan | Cleveland, élan, freelance, mélange |
Sound searches must be entered in normal ASCII characters, not in phonetic symbols. CUBE uses a set of ASCII equivalents for sounds which are given in full here. For example, to search for the sounds θ, ɪ, and ŋ, you should enter T, i, and N, respectively. As with spelling searches, # finds boundaries.
| search | finds | does not find | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| θɪŋk | — | think
| Tin | thin, thinly… | thing, think | TiN | anything, thing, think, think-tank… | tin, thin | #TiN | thing, think, think-tank… | anything | TaN | thank, thanked, Thanksgiving… | than | dan | Dan, dandelion, commandant… | dank | Dan | than | Dan | DaN | — | Dan, than | |
Results are always displayed in both spelling and phonetic transcription using IPA symbols (shown in blue).
Important: Stressed vowels are found in CUBE by entering them in upper case, not by means of any stress symbols. For example, the noun impact is Impakt, while the verb impact is impAkt. The representation of stress in CUBE is explained in greater detail here.
CUBE provides various other possibilities for refining your search and customizing the output.
