delve-dict

Look up English word definitions from Merriam-Webster.

╭── incubate  verb ──────────────────────────────────╮
│                                                    │
│  1. to sit on (eggs) so as to hatch by warmth      │
│  2. to maintain under conditions favorable for      │
│     hatching, development, or reaction              │
│                                                    │
│  Etymology: Latin incubatus, from incubare...       │
│                                                    │
│  Pronunciation: ˈiŋ-kyə-ˌbāt                        │
│  incubated; incubating                              │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Install

git clone https://github.com/xiaoshaoning/delve-dict.git
cd delve-dict
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm link --global    # makes `delve` available from anywhere

Requires a browser for Playwright (used to bypass M-W's bot protection):

• Windows/macOS: Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge (auto-detected)
• Linux / WSL2: run npx playwright install chromium after install

Usage

Single-shot lookup

delve <word>

delve incubate
delve serendipity
delve ephemeral

Interactive REPL

delve -i

Type words one at a time, results stay on screen. Type q to quit, Esc to exit.

Flags

| Flag | Short | Effect | |------|-------|--------| | --interactive | -i | Start REPL mode | | --minimal | -m | Definitions + pronunciation only (no etymology, examples) | | --full | -f | Include synonyms and antonyms | | --refresh | -r | Bypass cache, fetch fresh from M-W |

Examples

# Minimal output — just the essentials
delve ephemeral -m

# Full output — includes synonyms & antonyms
delve beautiful -f

# Force a fresh fetch, ignore cache
delve incubate -r

# Interactive mode with full detail
delve -i -f

How It Works

1. Cache check — looks in ~/.delve/cache/<word>.json (TTL: 7 days). Instant if cached.
2. Browser fetch — on cache miss, Playwright launches Edge headless, navigates to merriam-webster.com/dictionary/<word>.
3. Parse — cheerio extracts headword, part of speech, definitions, pronunciations (IPA), inflections, etymology.
4. Render — Ink (React-on-terminal) displays the result in a styled box.
5. Cache write — result saved to disk for next time.

Tech Stack

| Layer | Library | |-------|---------| | Runtime | Node.js + TypeScript (strict) | | CLI args | commander | | Browser | Playwright (Chrome → Edge fallback) | | HTML parse | cheerio | | Terminal UI | Ink + React | | Dev runner | tsx |

Cache

• Location: ~/.delve/cache/
• TTL: 7 days
• Force refresh: --refresh flag
• Manual clear: rm -rf ~/.delve/cache/