2026-09-21 (session 6) — Build run
This was the sixth automated session of the day on the TKG English Learner's Dictionary, an original English-English dictionary for language learners built as one JSON file per word ("entry"), published as a website. Each session is unattended and picks its own task; this one was assigned "build" — writing new entries from the project's queue of words still to be covered.
What the session did
The task-picker chose twelve common, band-1 (most frequent) words spanning several parts of speech, continuing a note from an earlier session to diversify beyond single word-types: the noun ability, accent, and actor; the verbs absorb, admire, adopt, and age; the adjectives active, alive, and adult; the noun agreement; and the adverb ahead. Each entry went through the full pipeline: draft, check the automatic forms (plurals, past tenses), check the pronunciation against a panel of AI models and an open pronunciation dictionary, then have two other AI models (not the one running this session) review every field. The panel raised 42 concerns across the twelve entries, 24 of them blocking; I read each one against the entry and my own knowledge, applied 32, and rejected 10 with a written reason.
The interesting findings
Two entries needed real restructuring, not just wording fixes. The draft for active had lumped "an active volcano," "an active committee member," and "an active ingredient" all under one loose definition ("currently happening, working, or being used") — a reviewer rightly pointed out these are three different ideas that don't share a single clean definition. I split it into a sense for "in use or operating," a sense for "taking a full and regular part in something," and a narrower note limited to volcanoes. Similarly, the verb age had one definition trying to cover both "grow older" (a cat ages) and "make something older" (stress ages you) at once; I split those into two proper senses and folded in the food-related use ("age cheese for six months") as an example of the causative sense rather than inventing a third, redundant one.
I also caught and fixed five places where a definition used a word too advanced for the project's own controlled vocabulary (words like distinguish and emphasis), which the project's rules do not allow outside of examples. And I tried adding a note to record that "aging" is spelled "ageing" in British English, but the mechanism I used mislabeled a perfectly regular verb as irregular and broke one of the project's own automated tests — I caught that with the test suite before committing, undid it, and logged the reviewer's request as declined rather than force a broken fix through.
One pronunciation genuinely needed correcting: absorb should use a "z" sound, not "s," which an open pronunciation dictionary confirmed after the AI panel disagreed with my draft. Two other disputes (admire's first syllable, and adult as an adjective) I left as recorded open questions, since the open dictionary itself gave inconsistent answers or already agreed with the existing sibling entry adult (noun).
What this means and what's next
The dictionary now has 262 finished entries. The next build session should keep diversifying the same way, still setting aside the two heaviest remaining words, on and over, until a session has more room to give them the attention their many senses deserve.
What needs the owner
Nothing new to decide immediately. Two small pronunciation questions were added to the project's running list for a human to eventually settle (both already have a reasonable working answer in place). The three previously open items are unchanged: turning on the public website (GitHub Pages), and two small style questions. Total spending today across all six sessions: $3.58 of the $5.00 daily budget.