Components of word-processing programs for personal computers that identify apparent misspellings and grammatical errors by reference to an incorporated dictionary and a list of rules for proper usage.
Spelling checkers cannot identify spelling errors that result in another legitimate word (e.g., "form" typed for "from") and are hard to use on documents that contain numerous words (e.g., foreign terms) not entered in the incorporated dictionary. Grammar checkers
which also generally check punctuation, sentence length, and other aspects of style
have been criticized for their reliance on oversimplified rules.