ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Machine-readable dictionary

Imagine you have a magic book that can talk to a computer! This book is called a dictionary, and it has words and their meanings written in it. But the computer can't understand the words in the book because they are written in a language that only humans can read.

A machine-readable dictionary is a special type of dictionary where all the words and their meanings are written in a way that computers can read and understand them. This means that the computer can use the dictionary to help understand and use those words in different contexts, like when it's trying to write a story or create a search engine for people to find information.

The machine-readable dictionary also includes a lot of information about each word, like how to pronounce it, what part of speech it is (whether it's a noun, verb, or adjective), and how to use it in a sentence. All this information helps the computer understand not just what the words mean, but how they're used in the English language.

So, basically, a machine-readable dictionary is a dictionary that a computer can use to understand the English language better. It helps computers talk to humans in a way that makes sense and is easy for us to understand.