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Leute die in 1980 geboren wurden, wussten bis sie erwachsen wurden gar nicht, dass Päpste sterben und dann neue gewählt werden. Das war für viele eine große Überraschung. Genauso wie ich bis zu meinem 18. Lebensjahr dachte Kanzler und Kohl sind nur zwei verschiedene Schreibweisen für das selbe Wort. Und dann wurde Schröder plötzlich der neue Bundeskohl.

To translate single words, I’d suggest you use a real dictionary, as they tend to provide much more options and a bigger nuance. Also the option to quickly translate the suggestions back again to see what the nuanced meaning is, helps a lot. I use leo.org for that.

If you know the language , but not the specific word, I suggest a single language dictionary such as the OED

And if I’m translating from my native language into a foreign one, the"other languages" link in Wikipedia has often helped me. Especially for technical terms it helps a lot to find the correct native page first. For example, a normal dictionary wouldn’t be too helpful to find out that a Hund in German is called a derail in English.

When I moved last year, I used it to register my new address. It was the worst experience with any IT system I’ve ever had in my life. It was still better than waiting 3 months for an appointment and waiting another 2 hours in the citizen office.