Dictionary
Dictionary is a simple tool for getting word definitions. It returns the definition a word.
This API provides reliable and fast access to dictionary data through a simple REST interface. Built for developers who need consistent, high-quality results with minimal setup time.
To use this API, you need an API key. You can get one by creating a free account and visiting your dashboard.
View API in DirectoryEndpoint
GET https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionaryCode Examples
Here are examples of how to call this API in different programming languages:
curl -X GET \
"https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionary?word=apple" \
-H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here"const response = await fetch('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionary', {
method: 'GET',
headers: {
'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key_here',
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);import requests
headers = {
'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key_here',
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
response = requests.get('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionary', headers=headers)
data = response.json()
print(data)const https = require('https');
const url = require('url');
const options = {
method: 'GET',
headers: {
'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key_here',
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
};
const req = https.request('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionary', options, (res) => {
let data = '';
res.on('data', (chunk) => data += chunk);
res.on('end', () => console.log(JSON.parse(data)));
});
req.end();<?php
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionary');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'GET');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
'X-API-Key: your_api_key_here',
'Content-Type: application/json'
]);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
$data = json_decode($response, true);
print_r($data);
?>package main
import (
"fmt"
"io"
"net/http"
)
func main() {
req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionary", nil)
req.Header.Set("X-API-Key", "your_api_key_here")
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
client := &http.Client{}
resp, err := client.Do(req)
if err != nil {
panic(err)
}
defer resp.Body.Close()
body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
fmt.Println(string(body))
}require 'net/http'
require 'json'
uri = URI('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/dictionary')
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
request['X-API-Key'] = 'your_api_key_here'
request['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
response = http.request(request)
puts JSON.pretty_generate(JSON.parse(response.body))Authentication
This API requires authentication via API key. Include your API key in the request header:
X-API-Key: your_api_key_hereParameters
The following parameters are available for this API endpoint:
| Parameter | Type | Required | Location | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| word | string | Yes | query | The word for which you want to get the definition (e.g., apple) | apple |
Response
The API returns responses in JSON, XML, and YAML formats:
Example Responses
{
"status": "ok",
"error": null,
"data": {
"word": "apple",
"definitionCount": 5,
"definitions": [
"The fleshy pome or fruit of a rosaceous tree (Pyrus malus) cultivated in numberless varieties in the temperate zones. Note: The European crab apple is supposed to be the original kind, from which all others have sprung.",
"(bot.) Any tree genus Pyrus which has the stalk sunken into the base of the fruit; an apple tree.",
"Any fruit or other vegetable production resembling, or supposed to resemble, the apple; as, apple of love, or love apple (a tomato), balsam apple, egg apple, oak apple.",
"Anything round like an apple; as, an apple of gold. Note: Apple is used either adjectively or in combination; as, apple paper or apple-paper, apple-shaped, apple blossom, apple dumpling, apple pudding. Apple blight, an aphid which injures apple trees. See Blight, n. -- Apple borer (Zoöl.), a coleopterous insect (Saperda candida or bivittata), the larva of which bores into the trunk of the apple tree and pear tree. -- Apple brandy, brandy made from apples. -- Apple butter, a sauce made of apples stewed down in cider. Bartlett. -- Apple corer, an instrument for removing the cores from apples. -- Apple fly (Zoöl.), any dipterous insect, the larva of which burrows in apples. Apple flies belong to the genera Drosophila and Trypeta. -- Apple midge (Zoöl.) a small dipterous insect (Sciara mali), the larva of which bores in apples. -- Apple of the eye, the pupil. -- Apple of discord, a subject of contention and envy, so called from the mythological golden apple, inscribed \"For the fairest,\" which was thrown into an assembly of the gods by Eris, the goddess of discord. It was contended for by Juno, Minerva, and Venus, and was adjudged to the latter. -- Apple of love, or Love apple, the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum). -- Apple of Peru, a large coarse herb (Nicandra physaloides) bearing pale blue flowers, and a bladderlike fruit inclosing a dry berry. -- Apples of Sodom, a fruit described by ancient writers as externally of air appearance but dissolving into smoke and ashes plucked; Dead Sea apples. The name is often given to the fruit of Solanum Sodomæum, a prickly shrub with fruit not unlike a small yellow tomato. -- Apple sauce, stewed apples. [U. S.] -- Apple snail or Apple shell (Zoöl.), a fresh-water, operculated, spiral shell of the genus Ampullaria. -- Apple tart, a tart containing apples. -- Apple tree, a tree naturally bears apples. See Apple,",
"-- Apple wine, cider. -- Apple worm (Zoöl.), the larva of a small moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) which burrows in the interior of apples. See Codling moth. -- Dead Sea Apple. (a) pl. Apples of Sodom. Also Fig. \"To seek the Dead Sea apples of politics.\" S. B. Griffin. (b) A kind of gallnut coming from Arabia. See Gallnut. To grow like an apple; to bear apples. Holland."
]
}
}<Root>
<status>ok</status>
<error />
<data>
<word>apple</word>
<definitionCount>5</definitionCount>
<definitions>The fleshy pome or fruit of a rosaceous tree (Pyrus malus) cultivated in numberless varieties in the temperate zones. Note: The European crab apple is supposed to be the original kind, from which all others have sprung.</definitions>
<definitions>(bot.) Any tree genus Pyrus which has the stalk sunken into the base of the fruit; an apple tree.</definitions>
<definitions>Any fruit or other vegetable production resembling, or supposed to resemble, the apple; as, apple of love, or love apple (a tomato), balsam apple, egg apple, oak apple.</definitions>
<definitions>Anything round like an apple; as, an apple of gold. Note: Apple is used either adjectively or in combination; as, apple paper or apple-paper, apple-shaped, apple blossom, apple dumpling, apple pudding. Apple blight, an aphid which injures apple trees. See Blight, n. -- Apple borer (Zoöl.), a coleopterous insect (Saperda candida or bivittata), the larva of which bores into the trunk of the apple tree and pear tree. -- Apple brandy, brandy made from apples. -- Apple butter, a sauce made of apples stewed down in cider. Bartlett. -- Apple corer, an instrument for removing the cores from apples. -- Apple fly (Zoöl.), any dipterous insect, the larva of which burrows in apples. Apple flies belong to the genera Drosophila and Trypeta. -- Apple midge (Zoöl.) a small dipterous insect (Sciara mali), the larva of which bores in apples. -- Apple of the eye, the pupil. -- Apple of discord, a subject of contention and envy, so called from the mythological golden apple, inscribed "For the fairest," which was thrown into an assembly of the gods by Eris, the goddess of discord. It was contended for by Juno, Minerva, and Venus, and was adjudged to the latter. -- Apple of love, or Love apple, the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum). -- Apple of Peru, a large coarse herb (Nicandra physaloides) bearing pale blue flowers, and a bladderlike fruit inclosing a dry berry. -- Apples of Sodom, a fruit described by ancient writers as externally of air appearance but dissolving into smoke and ashes plucked; Dead Sea apples. The name is often given to the fruit of Solanum Sodomæum, a prickly shrub with fruit not unlike a small yellow tomato. -- Apple sauce, stewed apples. [U. S.] -- Apple snail or Apple shell (Zoöl.), a fresh-water, operculated, spiral shell of the genus Ampullaria. -- Apple tart, a tart containing apples. -- Apple tree, a tree naturally bears apples. See Apple,</definitions>
<definitions>-- Apple wine, cider. -- Apple worm (Zoöl.), the larva of a small moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) which burrows in the interior of apples. See Codling moth. -- Dead Sea Apple. (a) pl. Apples of Sodom. Also Fig. "To seek the Dead Sea apples of politics." S. B. Griffin. (b) A kind of gallnut coming from Arabia. See Gallnut. To grow like an apple; to bear apples. Holland.</definitions>
</data>
</Root>status: ok
error:
data:
word: apple
definitionCount: 5
definitions:
- 'The fleshy pome or fruit of a rosaceous tree (Pyrus malus) cultivated in numberless varieties in the temperate zones. Note: The European crab apple is supposed to be the original kind, from which all others have sprung.'
- (bot.) Any tree genus Pyrus which has the stalk sunken into the base of the fruit; an apple tree.
- Any fruit or other vegetable production resembling, or supposed to resemble, the apple; as, apple of love, or love apple (a tomato), balsam apple, egg apple, oak apple.
- 'Anything round like an apple; as, an apple of gold. Note: Apple is used either adjectively or in combination; as, apple paper or apple-paper, apple-shaped, apple blossom, apple dumpling, apple pudding. Apple blight, an aphid which injures apple trees. See Blight, n. -- Apple borer (Zoöl.), a coleopterous insect (Saperda candida or bivittata), the larva of which bores into the trunk of the apple tree and pear tree. -- Apple brandy, brandy made from apples. -- Apple butter, a sauce made of apples stewed down in cider. Bartlett. -- Apple corer, an instrument for removing the cores from apples. -- Apple fly (Zoöl.), any dipterous insect, the larva of which burrows in apples. Apple flies belong to the genera Drosophila and Trypeta. -- Apple midge (Zoöl.) a small dipterous insect (Sciara mali), the larva of which bores in apples. -- Apple of the eye, the pupil. -- Apple of discord, a subject of contention and envy, so called from the mythological golden apple, inscribed "For the fairest," which was thrown into an assembly of the gods by Eris, the goddess of discord. It was contended for by Juno, Minerva, and Venus, and was adjudged to the latter. -- Apple of love, or Love apple, the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum). -- Apple of Peru, a large coarse herb (Nicandra physaloides) bearing pale blue flowers, and a bladderlike fruit inclosing a dry berry. -- Apples of Sodom, a fruit described by ancient writers as externally of air appearance but dissolving into smoke and ashes plucked; Dead Sea apples. The name is often given to the fruit of Solanum Sodomæum, a prickly shrub with fruit not unlike a small yellow tomato. -- Apple sauce, stewed apples. [U. S.] -- Apple snail or Apple shell (Zoöl.), a fresh-water, operculated, spiral shell of the genus Ampullaria. -- Apple tart, a tart containing apples. -- Apple tree, a tree naturally bears apples. See Apple,'
- -- Apple wine, cider. -- Apple worm (Zoöl.), the larva of a small moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) which burrows in the interior of apples. See Codling moth. -- Dead Sea Apple. (a) pl. Apples of Sodom. Also Fig. "To seek the Dead Sea apples of politics." S. B. Griffin. (b) A kind of gallnut coming from Arabia. See Gallnut. To grow like an apple; to bear apples. Holland.Response Structure
All API responses follow a consistent structure with the following fields:
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| status | string | Indicates whether the request was successful ("ok") or failed ("error") | ok |
| error | string | null | Contains error message if status is "error", otherwise null | null |
| data | object | null | Contains the API response data if successful, otherwise null | {...} |
Response Data Fields
When the request is successful, the data object contains the following fields:
| Field | Type | Sample Value |
|---|---|---|
| word | string | "apple" |
| definitionCount | number | 5 |
| definitions | array | ["The fleshy pome or fruit of a rosaceous tree (Pyrus malus) cultivated in numberless varieties in the temperate zones. Note: The European crab apple is supposed to be the original kind, from which all others have sprung.", ...] |
Headers
Required and optional headers for API requests:
| Header Name | Required | Example Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| X-API-Key | Yes | your_api_key_here | Your APIVerve API key. Found in your dashboard under API Keys. |
| Accept | No | application/json | Specify response format: application/json (default), application/xml, or application/yaml |
| User-Agent | No | MyApp/1.0 | Identifies your application for analytics and debugging purposes |
| X-Request-ID | No | req_123456789 | Custom request identifier for tracking and debugging requests |
| Cache-Control | No | no-cache | Control caching behavior for the request and response |
Client Libraries
To get started with minimal code, most of our APIs are available through client libraries and clients:
Error Codes
The API uses standard HTTP status codes to indicate success or failure:
| Status Code | Message | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | OK | Request successful, data returned |
| 400 | Bad Request | Invalid request parameters or malformed request |
| 401 | Unauthorized | Missing or invalid API key |
| 403 | Forbidden | API key does not have permission for this endpoint |
| 429 | Too Many Requests | Rate limit exceeded, please slow down requests |
| 500 | Internal Server Error | Server error, please try again later |
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