So, this whole time I've been saying, "The dictionary, the dictionary, the dictionary, the dictionary." Not "a dictionary," or "dictionaries." And that's because, well, people use the dictionary to stand for the whole language.
Ich habe ja die ganze Zeit "das Wörterbuch, das Wörterbuch, das Wörterbuch, das Wörterbuch" gesagt. Nicht "ein Wörterbuch" oder "Wörterbücher".