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wudict Hover browser extension

wudict Hover shows definitions from your wudict server in a popup on any web page: when you hover over a word while holding a key, or from the context menu.

Available in the Chrome Web Store Get the Add-on for Firefox

Requires a running wudict server (by default http://127.0.0.1:6888, or on another computer in your network) and Chrome 116 or Firefox 128 or later.

Run at startup

Use

Action Result
hover over a word, holding Alt the popup, with exact matches for the word
select text, right-click → Look up "…" in wudict a search for the selection
Alt+Shift+W a search for the selection
Alt+W, or the toolbar icon the extension's panel, with a search box

A word with no exact match is retried as variants: apostrophe, possessive, hyphen and suffix forms. Audio plays in the popup. A link in the popup opens its target in the wudict page.

A search from the panel, the context menu or the shortcut opens the wudict page, with all dictionaries; Search opens in the options can choose the popup instead. Hover always uses the popup.

Hover lookup can be paused everywhere or on one site: from the panel, the icon's context menu, or a keyboard shortcut assigned in the browser's extension shortcut settings.

Options

Option Default
Base URL http://127.0.0.1:6888
Hold key Alt; also Ctrl, Shift, Meta, or none
Hover delay 200 ms
Search opens the full wudict page
Right-click menu on
Dictionaries per lookup 3, chosen automatically; up to 8, or a fixed selection
Entries per dictionary 1 (up to 10)
Fallback attempts 4 (up to 8)

Test connection checks the base URL.

How it works

The popup requests articles in the clean format: about half the size of the original markup, without stylesheets or scripts. The extension's service worker sends the requests, since browsers do not let ordinary web pages call a server on your machine, and caches up to 400 answers (8 MB).

The server gives extensions three read-only endpoints: /api/dicts, /api/search and /res/. They need no access key, so the extension also works with a server on another computer. BROWSER_EXTENSIONS limits which extensions may call them.

If the popup reports that the server does not answer extensions, the server is older than the extension: update wudict.

Source: github.com/wuweidict/wudict-browser-extension

Install an unpublished build

For development, or for features not yet in the stores.

  1. Unzip the extension.
  2. Open chrome://extensions and turn on Developer mode.
  3. Load unpacked, and choose the folder.
  1. Open about:addons.
  2. Gear menu → Install Add-on From File, and choose the .xpi file.

Alternatively, about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox → Load Temporary Add-on → manifest.json in the unpacked folder. A temporary add-on is removed when Firefox restarts.