My mind is going crazy! What’s that word I need for my lede? It’s on the tip of my tongue! I know what it sounds like, what it means, but I just can’t think of it. Aaaaaaaaargh!
Sound familiar?
Before you pound your head on your keyboard, hoping the bumps on your skull will magically hit just the right keys, try RhymeZone.com. Packed with useful word search tools, this site isn’t just for Dr. Seuss stories.
Enter whatever related word you can think of and the site will help you find what you’re looking for.
Among the ways you can search for words are:
- Find words that rhyme.
- Find similar spellings.
- Find synonyms or antonyms.
- Find words that appear in the definition of the word you enter.
- Find similar sounding words: This returns words that have a pronunciation that’s similar, but not necessarily the same, as what you typed.
- Match consonants: This returns words that have the same pattern of consonant sounds. “Phonetic,” for example, will return “fanatic.”
- Find homophones: This returns words that have exactly the same pronunciation as what you typed, but are spelled differently.
- Match these letters: This returns words and phrases that contain the letters you type.
- Find related words: This returns words that are related in some important way to what you typed.
The Find Related Words option is my favorite. Say, for example, there’s a car part you’re trying to remember the name of — search for “car” and it will return several lists of related words, including everything from accelerator to throttle. Among the many ways it finds these words are by searching dictionary definitions to see which include the word “car” and which words are used in the same context.
If you find yourself using RhymeZone frequently, the site offers a specialized toolbar you can add to your browser. RhymeZone also has a number of fun features to keep word lovers entertained: a list of words coined by Shakespeare; quizzes on everything from grammar to Greek Gods; and a searchable database of Mother Goose lyrics, including this apt gem:
I’ll tell you a story
About Jack-a-Nory:
And now my story’s begun.
I’ll tell you another
About his brother:
And now my story is done.
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