explainedOne word, two sentences
Consider these two original examples: “The footpath follows the bank beside the river.” And: “The bank approved the application after reviewing the documents.”
Both contain bank, but the surrounding words suggest different meanings. The example illustrates ambiguity; it is not a transcript of a live model response. Highlight bank in either sentence and explicitly activate the lookup if you want to try it.
Inspect the context used
With nearby context enabled, Explained sends the selected phrase and up to 600 nearby characters. Open Context used in the card to inspect the captured text. The context is bounded, so it may omit information elsewhere in a long article.
Check whether that text includes what makes the phrase meaningful. If it does not, read more of the original article before relying on the explanation. A convincing answer can still be based on incomplete context.
Choose what to share
- Use the extension toolbar to turn nearby context off before making a new lookup. Only the selected text is then used as reading input; required service authentication and network metadata still accompany API requests.
- Selection or copying alone does not submit a query. Click the selection icon or use Ctrl+X (⌘X on Mac) when you want an explanation.
- Pause a site or pause all lookups when you do not want the extension to handle reading selections.
Compare meaning, not just wording
Look for the core interpretation in each answer. Two answers can use different words while describing the same meaning; similar wording can also hide an incorrect interpretation.
Keep the original sentence visible and ask whether the explanation fits it. If the term is still ambiguous, the useful outcome may be recognizing that you need more information.
Take the habit into longer reading
Try the same approach with an acronym in a research article: select the acronym, inspect the nearby text, read the explanation, and return to the original claim. Use a longer explanation or its sources when a specific uncertainty remains.
Changing the page’s reading language does not change the language of live explanations. Choose that separately in the extension toolbar.