cli-dict

A lightweight command-line dictionary written in Go. The tool fetches word definitions from the free dictionaryapi.dev API and prints them directly in the terminal.

Features

• Look up English word definitions
• Shows part of speech
• Displays example sentences when available
• Simple and fast CLI interface

Project Structure

cli-dict
│
├── cmd
│   └── dict
│       └── main.go        # CLI entrypoint
│
├── internal
│   ├── api
│   │   └── dictionary.go  # API request logic
│   └── models
│       └── response.go    # JSON response structures
│
├── go.mod
└── README.md

Requirements

• Go 1.20+ (or any modern Go version)

Check your installation:

go version

Build

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yashmehla/cli-dict.git
cd cli-dict

Build the binary:

go build -o dict ./cmd/dict

This will create the executable dict.

Usage

./dict <word>

Example:

./dict hello

Example output:

Word: hello

noun
1. An expression of greeting.

verb
1. To greet someone.

API

This project uses the free public API:

https://dictionaryapi.dev/

No API key is required.

Purpose

This project was built as a beginner Go CLI project to practice:

• Go modules
• HTTP requests
• JSON decoding
• CLI argument handling
• project structure in Go

My first go language experimental project.