Vocabulary builder and dictionary for Chrome
Double-click any word you don’t know, on any website. Get a simple explanation in your language, and review it until it sticks.
HoldMyWord is a free extension for Chrome on your computer.
Try it here: double-clicktap an underlined word
Essay · 6 min read
It is almost midnight and you are still reading. A word stops you — , or , or one from another language entirely: , , . You look it up. You nod. For one second you feel . Then the tab closes, sleep arrives, and by morning the word has — borrowed, never owned, the loan quietly called in while you slept.
You can double-click any word here, not only the underlined ones. Words from any language go in the same dictionary: there is no language to set up.
Then, review
FreeEach word comes back right before you’d forget it: tomorrow, then in 3, 7, 14 and 30 days. Every time it’s a quick exercise, a bit harder as the word sticks.
Write your own, and the AI tells you if it fits.
“The mountain was ephemeral and huge.”
“Ephemeral” means lasting a very short time, but a mountain stands for ages.
Better: “The snow on the huge mountain was ephemeral.”
New words
What does this word mean?
Answer it to see when the word comes back.
Then, read
NewA short story written with your words, then three quick questions. Seeing a word in a new place makes it stick.
A short story written for you with 5 of your words, then three quick questions about it.
quixotic, erudite, lambent, ephemeral, evanesced
Here with the demo’s words. In the app, it’s written from the words you saved.
What you get for every word
We save the sentence the word was in and a link to the page, so you remember how it was used.
Each word gets a short, plain explanation in the language you choose, and a new example sentence in the word’s own language.
Group words by book, course or topic. Or don’t: all your words are always in one list.
Download your dictionary as a spreadsheet (CSV) or a printable PDF whenever you like.
HoldMyWord is a free Chrome extension and website for building your vocabulary while you read, in English or any other language. Double-click a word you don’t know on any website and press “Hold it”. You get a short, simple explanation with an example sentence, and the word is saved to your own dictionary on holdmyword.com.
Yes. Saving words, folders, search and downloads are all free, and 100 words a week get a simple explanation. Review is free too.
A dictionary or a translator tells you what a word means once. HoldMyWord keeps the word with the sentence you found it in and the page it came from. Then it brings the word back right before you’d forget it: the next day, then after 3, 7, 14 and 30 days, each time with a quick exercise.
In Study, HoldMyWord brings each word back for a quick exercise right before you’d forget it. After each card you can write a sentence of your own with the word, and the AI tells you whether it fits. You can also read a short story written with today’s words or one of your folders, with three questions about it. Sentence checks and stories are free while they’re in beta.
Save words in any language you read, with no language to set up: English, German, French and others all go in one dictionary. Explanations come in the language you choose (English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish or Turkish), and the example sentence stays in the word’s own language.
Press “Add to Chrome” on holdmyword.com. It opens HoldMyWord in the Chrome Web Store, where you add it to Chrome for free. Pin it to your toolbar, create a free account, and double-click a word on any website.
The extension is for Google Chrome on a computer. Your dictionary and review open on holdmyword.com in any browser, on your phone too.
No. It does nothing until you save a word. Then it sends only that word, the sentence around it, and the page’s title, address and language to your account. No ads and no tracking. The privacy policy has the details.
Three steps, and it’s free.
It opens in the Chrome Web Store. Add it, then pin it to your toolbar.
Add to ChromeJust your email. You choose a password from the link we send you.
Create a free accountI already have an accountOn any website. Press “Hold it”, and the word is in your dictionary.
Just your email. We send you a link.
Create a free accountI already have an accountChoose a password there, then add HoldMyWord to Chrome.
On any website. Press “Hold it”, and the word is in your dictionary.