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How to add phrases to a dictionary

Add exact, prefix, and plural phrases to a compliance dictionary.

H
Written by Harriet Christie

Summary

Phrases are the keywords a dictionary checks for. You add and edit phrases in the Dictionary of terms table, which lets you type phrases directly, paste rows from a spreadsheet, and tick plural or prefix to broaden how each phrase is matched.

Prerequisites

  • Access to MirrorWeb Insight

  • Dictionary write permission

  • An existing dictionary (see "How to create a dictionary")

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Open the dictionary

On the Dictionaries page, click the dictionary you want to edit to open its editor. The dictionary name appears as the page heading.

The Dictionaries list with a dictionary selected

Step 2: Locate the Dictionary of terms table

In the Dictionary of terms panel, the helper text reads: "Use the table below to edit, add and remove phrases, or paste directly from a spreadsheet. Use plural to also match the plural form of the phrase, and prefix to also match the phrase as a prefix." The table columns are phrase, plural, and prefix.

The Dictionary of terms table with phrase, plural, and prefix columns

Step 3: Add phrases

  1. Type a phrase in a row's phrase cell, or paste multiple rows directly from a spreadsheet.

  2. Use the + button below the table to add a new empty row, and the - button to remove the last row.

A new phrase being typed into a row of the terms table

Step 4: Set the match options for each phrase

For each phrase, tick the checkboxes as needed:

  1. plural - also matches the plural form of the phrase.

  2. prefix - also matches the phrase as a prefix.

Leaving both unticked matches the phrase on its own (see Notes for matching behaviour).

The plural and prefix checkboxes ticked on a phrase row

Step 5: Save the dictionary

Click Save at the top of the page. A confirmation modal appears warning that "Saving will overwrite the current dictionary. Do you wish to continue?" Click Save to confirm. While saving, the button shows "Saving...".

The Save confirmation modal

Notes

NOTE: Matching behaviour: a single-word phrase matches exactly on a word boundary; prefix matches tokens that start with the phrase (but not an identical token); plural auto-generates the +s, +es, and y→ies forms; a multi-word phrase is matched as a substring (not word-boundary aware).

IMPORTANT: Changes only affect future messages. Dictionaries are evaluated at ingest time only and are not applied retroactively to already-processed messages.

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