Google's "define: " through an API?
I want to get the result of searches that use special features in Google, like "define: [phrase]" and I can't seem to find relevant information about this.
Does anyone knows where I can get the data in JSON format (like the rest of Google's APIs) without scraping the results page manually?
Thanks, Eli
Answer
I wish I had not set a bounty for this, because I stumbled upon the answer a few days later and it is really simple.
Here is URL to call if you want a definition to love:
http://www.google.com/dictionary/json?callback=a&sl=en&tl=en&q=love
You will get a response stream containing JSONP, with the following contents ("prettified" for learning purposes, API returns all in one line):
a(
{
"query":"love",
"sourceLanguage":"en",
"targetLanguage":"en",
"primaries":[
{
"type":"headword",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"love",
"language":"en",
"labels":[
{
"text":"Noun",
"title":"Part-of-speech"
}
]
},
{
"type":"phonetic",
"text":"/ləv/",
"language":"und"
},
{
"type":"sound",
"text":"http://www.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/de/0/love.mp3",
"language":"und"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"related",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"loves",
"language":"und",
"labels":[
{
"text":"plural"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"An intense feeling of deep affection",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"babies fill parents with intense feelings of \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"their \x3cb\x3e\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e for\x3c/b\x3e their country",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"A deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"it was \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e at first sight",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"they were both \x3cb\x3ein \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e with\x3c/b\x3e her",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"we were slowly \x3cb\x3efalling in \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e\x3c/b\x3e",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"A personified figure of \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e, often represented as Cupid",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"A great interest and pleasure in something",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"his \x3cb\x3e\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e for\x3c/b\x3e football",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"we share a \x3cb\x3e\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e of\x3c/b\x3e music",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"Affectionate greetings conveyed to someone on one\x27s behalf",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"A formula for ending an affectionate letter",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"take care, lots of \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e, Judy",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"A person or thing that one \x3cem\x3eloves\x3c/em\x3e",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"she was \x3cb\x3ethe \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e of his life\x3c/b\x3e",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"their two great \x3cem\x3eloves\x3c/em\x3e are tobacco and whiskey",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"A friendly form of address",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"it\x27s all right, \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"Used to express affectionate approval for someone",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"don\x27t fret, there\x27s a \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"(in tennis, squash, and some other sports) A score of zero; nil",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"\x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e fifteen",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"he was down two sets to \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"headword",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"love",
"language":"en",
"labels":[
{
"text":"Verb",
"title":"Part-of-speech"
}
]
},
{
"type":"phonetic",
"text":"/ləv/",
"language":"und"
},
{
"type":"sound",
"text":"http://www.gstatic.com/dictionary/static/sounds/de/0/love.mp3",
"language":"und"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"related",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"loved",
"language":"und",
"labels":[
{
"text":"past participle"
}
]
},
{
"type":"text",
"text":"loves",
"language":"und",
"labels":[
{
"text":"3rd person singular present"
}
]
},
{
"type":"text",
"text":"loving",
"language":"und",
"labels":[
{
"text":"present participle"
}
]
},
{
"type":"text",
"text":"loved",
"language":"und",
"labels":[
{
"text":"past tense"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"Feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone)",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"do you \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e me?",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"type":"meaning",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"Like very much; find pleasure in",
"language":"en"
}
],
"entries":[
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"I\x27d \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e a cup of tea, thanks",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"I just \x3cem\x3elove\x3c/em\x3e dancing",
"language":"en"
}
]
},
{
"type":"example",
"terms":[
{
"type":"text",
"text":"a fun-\x3cem\x3eloving\x3c/em\x3e girl",
"language":"en"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
,200,null)
Google Dictionary API returns in the form of a callback function (JSONP). Before you can process the JSON within the function call, you have to strip out the callback function data.
That means removing everything before the first { and everything after the last }.
After this you are done! That's all information you need and it's basically the same (actually a little more!) information when you search Google for define love.