# Kindle Dictionary Problem



## D/W (Dec 29, 2010)

I'm having a problem with my Kindle dictionaries. I was working on my husband's manuscript today, and I had looked up about 30 words using Kindle's _The New Oxford American Dictionary_ without any problems. Then I tried to look up the word "grueling." As soon as I typed the three letters _*gru*_ I got the message _"The selected item could not be opened. If you purchased this item from Amazon, delete the item and download it from Archived Items."_

I tried this several times, and got the same message. I can type _*grr*_ or _*grv*_ and it's okay. I get the error message if I type the three letters _*grs*_, _*grt*_, or _*gru*_. I cannot go to _*grr*_ and page forward, so it appears that there's a problem in just a small section of the dictionary.

I restarted the Kindle (got the boy under the tree, progress bar, etc.). Then I tried to access the word again. Same message. Then I tried the _Oxford Dictionary of English_, and got the message as soon as I typed the letters _*grue*_.

Could someone try to type in "grueling" in the _The New Oxford American Dictionary_ and tell me if they have the same problem? I'm trying to figure out if it's just on my Kindle, or if it's a problem in the dictionary on all Kindles. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Thanks!


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## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

Interesting......It worked for me ONCE; after than I get the same results as you....in both dictionaries.  Might be worth a call to Customer Service.


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## D/W (Dec 29, 2010)

How weird!  I'm sorry that you're having the same problem, but at least I know that it's probably a dictionary issue--not my Kindle device.  Whew!

I've never read of this problem here (or elsewhere) before, and I'd like to know if anyone else is observing the same peculiarity.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I've looked up the word several times in both dictionaries and didn't have a problem. Perhaps it's a particular version of the dictionary that's got a problem.


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

I'm not seeing the same problem, but can I just check the exact process?

When I open the dictionary (tried it with both), then start typing, as I hit each letter I get the contents of the dictionary sorted to that letter ie g gives me "G", gr gives me "gr", gru gives me "grub", grue gives me "gruel" and so on.

I've not seen this "instant searching" in any other document!

Anyway, if this is how you are doing the search then no, I don't seem to be having the problem.

I also didn't have any problems when I found "grueling" in a book on my Kindle and then did the dictionary lookup that way.

I do seem to have two copies of the dictionaries (I think a lot of people do have, there was an update along the way) - both seem to work OK, but there's no easy way to tell which is the newer one.


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## D/W (Dec 29, 2010)

Morf said:


> I'm not seeing the same problem, but can I just check the exact process?
> 
> When I open the dictionary (tried it with both), then start typing, as I hit each letter I get the contents of the dictionary sorted to that letter ie g gives me "G", gr gives me "gr", gru gives me "grub", grue gives me "gruel" and so on.
> 
> ...


Yes, that's how I'm searching for the word.



> I also didn't have any problems when I found "grueling" in a book on my Kindle and then did the dictionary lookup that way.


I haven't tried searching for the word from within a book, but later today or tomorrow I will create a .mobi file with the word in it, transfer to my Kindle, and then test that.



> I do seem to have two copies of the dictionaries (I think a lot of people do have, there was an update along the way) - both seem to work OK, but there's no easy way to tell which is the newer one.


That's interesting. I have only one copy of each dictionary on my Kindle. I'm not sure if the dictionaries are downloadable from my Manage Your Kindle page at Amazon since they were preloaded on the device, but I'll have to see if there's any information there.

Thanks to all!


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## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

I bought my latest generation Kindle in March & both the dictionaries work fine for this search.  Mine works the same way Morf reported above - a list of words starting with whatever letter combinations I type in.


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

DreamWeaver said:


> That's interesting. I have only one copy of each dictionary on my Kindle. I'm not sure if the dictionaries are downloadable from my Manage Your Kindle page at Amazon since they were preloaded on the device, but I'll have to see if there's any information there.
> 
> Thanks to all!


Here's the discussion about multiple dictionaries... http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,47414.0.html


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## D/W (Dec 29, 2010)

valleycat1 said:


> I bought my latest generation Kindle in March & both the dictionaries work fine for this search. Mine works the same way Morf reported above - a list of words starting with whatever letter combinations I type in.


My dictionaries work the same way, and they function properly as long as I don't try to search for a word from _*grs*_ through _*gru*_. (I don't imagine there are any words starting with _*grs*_ or _*grt*_ unless they're acronyms, but there are words starting with _*gru*_.) I purchased my Kindle in late November 2010, so maybe there are fixed versions of the dictionaries that I don't have.

It's interesting that I have the same problem in both the _Oxford Dictionary of English_ and _The New Oxford American Dictionary_.


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