simple example of using google dictionary word lookup. getMean() makes an ajax call to the api, then process function takes the result string and returns defination of the word as a json object.

gistfile1.js

function getMean(word){
	if(word==""|| word=="Enter a word")
	return;
    
	ajax = new XMLHttpRequest();
  
  	// result callback
	ajax.onreadystatechange	= function(){
		if(ajax.readyState==4 && ajax.status==200){			
			var massaged = ajax.responseText.replace(/^[^(]+\(|[^}]+$/g, ''), res;
	            	try {
	                	res = JSON.parse( massaged );
	            	} catch( e ) {
		                res = new Function( 'return ' + massaged )();
	            	}
				
			$('#result').val(process(res));
		}
	}
  
  	// make the call
	var encoded = encodeURIComponent("http://www.google.com/dictionary/json?callback=process&sl=en&tl=en&restrict=pr,de&client=te&q=" + word);
	ajax.open("GET","proxy.php?url=" + encoded,true);
	ajax.send(null);
}

// iterates through json result object, returns word definition object
function process(json_obj){
	var result = {
		sound : null,
		pronunciation : null,
		primary_means : null
	};
	
	for (var prop in json_obj){
		if(prop=="primaries"){
			var stuff = json_obj["primaries"][0];
			
			// get pronunciation and sound
			var isa = "";
			var sound;
			var pro = stuff["terms"];
			for(var i=0;i<pro.length;i++){
				if(pro[i]["type"]=="phonetic"){
					isa+=pro[i]["text"];
					isa+=" ";
				}
				else if(pro[i]["type"]=="sound"){
					sound = pro[i]["text"];
				}
			}
			result.sound = sound;
			result.pronunciation = isa;
			
			// get meaning array
			var primary_mean = stuff["entries"];
			var primary_mean_list = [];
			var k=0;
			for(var i=0;i<primary_mean.length;i++){
				if(primary_mean[i]["type"]=="meaning"){
					primary_mean_list[k]=primary_mean[i]["terms"][0]["text"];
					k++;
				}
			}
			result.primary_means = primary_mean_list;
		}
		else
			continue;
	}
	
	return result;
}

var result = getMean('Philodendron');
console.log(result);