diff --git a/tools/makedict/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/FusionDictionary.java b/tools/makedict/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/FusionDictionary.java
index 2327e1972..3ab206d80 100644
--- a/tools/makedict/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/FusionDictionary.java
+++ b/tools/makedict/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/FusionDictionary.java
@@ -434,6 +434,16 @@ public class FusionDictionary implements Iterable<Word> {
         return currentGroup;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Helper method to find out whether a word is in the dict or not.
+     */
+    public boolean hasWord(final String s) {
+        if (null == s || "".equals(s)) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Can't search for a null or empty string");
+        }
+        return null != findWordInTree(mRoot, s);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Recursively count the number of character groups in a given branch of the trie.
      *