UPDATE:For this code to work you need to include the mm-url library. The code is now fixed
If so, here's a little snippet I wrote for emacs to have all this
power just one keystroke away
(require 'mm-url)
(defun google-define-word-or-phrase (query)
(interactive "sInsert word or phrase to search: ")
(let* ((url (concat "http://www.google.com.pe/search?hl=en&q=define%3A"
(replace-regexp-in-string " " "+" query)))
(definition
(save-excursion
(with-temp-buffer
(mm-url-insert url)
(goto-char (point-min))
(if (search-forward "No definitions found of " nil t)
"No definitions found"
(buffer-substring (search-forward "<li>") (- (search-forward "<") 1)))))))
(message "%s: %s" query definition)))
(global-set-key [f5] 'google-define-word-or-phrase)
This uses google's define: operator to look up for a word
or phrase. Copy & Paste this code into your .emacs and with pressinf
F5 you will be prompted for your query. Have fun
If you have any comments on the code they will be more than welcome :)