Collins COBUILD Dictionary vs Dictionaries
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Collins COBUILD Dictionary
This comprehensive English language reference tool offers clear definitions in full sentences, drawing from a vast database of real-world text. Enhance your writing and understanding with detailed word entries, example sentences, and advanced search and learning tools.
- Clear definitions in full sentences
- Extensive word database
- Thousands of example sentences
- Search autocomplete
- Keyword lookup
- Camera and voice search
- Favorites and recent word lists
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You will find all the words you need, defined clearly in full sentences. Including a range of 17,000 headwords, 63,000 references and 25,000 examples, the information in this dictionary has been carefully chosen in order to allow the dictionary user to be a confident language user. It will enable you to write better in English as well as understand the language better. The Collins COBUILD Intermediate Dictionary is based on a huge database of text, both written and spoken, called The Bank of English. The Bank of English® contains over 650 million words, and it is the basis of all the statements that COBUILD makes about the language. The entries contain a detailed account of the main uses and meanings of every word. Each of the forms is listed at the start of each entry, along with information about alternative spellings, if any exist. Explanations are written in full sentences, show typical grammatical behavior and give a clear description of meaning. The thousands of examples are taken directly from The Bank of English®, showing typical patterns of usage and grammatical structure. LATEST APP UPDАТES: • Learn in style with any of the four colorful new themes – The colorful layout will turn your learning experience into an enjoyable routine. Customize your dictionary and benefit from the cheerful mood your favorite color brings you. • Dive right into the intricacies of the language - With new and convenient Home page, sleeker and more intuitive visual layout, as well as innovations in the speed of searches, you can get to the desired entry faster than ever. SEARCH TOOLS - quickly find words with the clear, functional, and easy-to-use interface. Designed to provide the most comprehensive search experience, the dictionary combines several search tools to match or predict what are you looking for, including: • Search autocomplete helps you find words quickly by displaying predictions as you type. • Keyword lookup allows you to search within compound words and phrases. • Camera search looks up words in the camera viewfinder and displays results in seconds. • Voice search helps you find an entry when you don’t know how a word is spelled. Looking for a specific word but don't know how it's spelled? We've got you covered with our automatic ‘Fuzzy filter’ to correct word spelling, as well as ‘Wild card’ ('*' or '?') to replace a letter or entire parts of a word. LEARNING TOOLS - engaging features that help you further enhance your vocabulary. Designed to give you freedom to structure your studies, the dictionary combines several learning tools to help you be more organized, including: • ‘Favorites’ that allow you to create custom folders with lists of words. • Recent list which helps you to easily review looked-up words. • Swipe-to-delete functionality in the Recent and Favorites menus. • Word-of-the-day option to teach you a new word every day. Feel excited by the new word or definition you just learned? Share your discovery with friends on social media, email or any other option available on your device.
Dictionaries
Access and search multiple dictionaries simultaneously in one app. Purchase various language dictionaries, including English and Japanese, from an in-app store. Features include batch searching, handwriting input, and cross-dictionary navigation.
- Batch search multiple dictionaries
- Purchase language dictionaries
- Handwriting input support
- Trace and Jump between words
- Bookmark and categorize words
- iCloud synchronization
- Multitasking with other apps
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“Dictionaries” is an electronic dictionary viewer app made to allow users to efficiently use various dictionaries. Our popular standalone apps have been integrated into a single app where users can search multiple dictionaries at once. You can purchase and use a variety of dictionaries, including English, Japanese, French or other language dictionaries, from the “Dictionary Store” which can be accessed from within the app. Searches • Batch Search (Consolidated Search) allows users to search multiple dictionaries at once. • The display order of dictionaries used in the batch search can be customized. • The keyboard language switches automatically depending on dictionary search groups. • Handwriting input is possible for Japanese, Old Japanese, Kanji, Chinese, Korean, and Russian dictionaries. • Using Pattern Search, users can search for words even if a part of the spelling is unknown. Trace and Jump • Users can easily jump to not only other words in the same dictionary but other dictionaries as well simply by tracing words in a definition, allowing users to go on a journey of intellectual curiosity through the dictionary as their hearts desire. Collection • Purchased dictionaries are shown as icons on the Collection screen. • By opening a dictionary from the Collection screen, users can also carefully go through a single dictionary. Even in this case, users can use the “Trace and Jump” function to easily jump to another dictionary. • The display order of dictionary icons on the Collection screen can be changed to the user's preference. Bookmarks • Users can bookmark their favorite words. In addition, users can also efficiently categorize these bookmarks using the Bookmark Folder. • By turning on Quick Bookmark, users can quickly add/remove bookmarks simply by tapping the Bookmark icon. Search History • In History, display frequency is automatically recorded so that users can immediately recognize words they search for repeatedly. iCloud • Users can synchronize Bookmark and History data among all devices by turning on iCloud. Multitasking • Users can display websites, documents, and more alongside their dictionary by using the Multitasking function on the iPad. By turning on Clipboard Search, users simply have to copy the word they wish to look up in order for the app to find that word in multiple dictionaries. Substantial Lineup • The Dictionary Store carries a large number of full-scale dictionaries, and we plan to further improve this selection in the future as well. • The following English dictionaries are available. Check in the Dictionary Store, which can be accessed from within the app, for more information on each of these items. - Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 10th edition (OALD) - Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English - Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus - Oxford Collocations Dictionary - Practical English Usage - Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 10th edition - Collins COBUILD Advanced American English Dictionary 3rd edition - Collins COBUILD Intermediate Learner’s Dictionary 4th edition - Collins English Dictionary with Thesaurus An internet connection is required to purchase content.Usage fees and terms of use may apply.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Dictionaries at Free against Collins COBUILD Dictionary's $11.99. Dictionaries also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 9 months). Collins COBUILD Dictionary's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 23) and rating (4.4 vs 4.1). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Dictionaries is free to download; Collins COBUILD Dictionary costs $11.99 up front. Dictionaries sells 23 one-off in-app purchases. Collins COBUILD Dictionary asks for nothing beyond the download.
Collins COBUILD Dictionary holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 46 and 84 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of Collins COBUILD Dictionary's written reviews are positive against 57% of Dictionaries's.
Collins COBUILD Dictionary ships an update every 9 months, Dictionaries every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Collins COBUILD Dictionary | Dictionaries |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $11.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (46 ratings) — better | 4.1 (84 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 59.2% of reviews — better | 56.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 46 | 84 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 68 MB | 60 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MobiSystems, Inc. | 物書堂 |
Customer experience
Collins COBUILD Dictionary
Dictionaries
In-app purchases
Collins COBUILD Dictionary
No in-app purchases
Dictionaries
- WISDOM English-Japanese 2Free
- WISDOM English-JapaneseFree
- COBUILD American 2nd editionFree
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- COBUILD Advanced 9th editionFree
- DAIJIRINFree
- 柯林斯 COBUILD 高级英汉双解词典Free
- RGKO12 UpgradeFree
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- Basic Japanese Grammar$20.99
- SHINMEIKAI 8$20.99
- Gendai Shin Kokugo Jiten$20.99
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- DAIJISEN$22.99
- Japanese Colloquial Expressions$25.99
- WISDOM English-Japanese 3$26.99
- DAIJIRIN 4$28.99
- Shogakukan Chinese-Japanese$31.99
- OALD 10$32.99
- Japanese Collocations$33.99
- NHK Japanese Pronunciation$36.99
- SHOGAKUKAN Korean-Japanese$47.99







