Initializing a dictionary in python with a key value and no corresponding values

Question

I was wondering if there was a way to initialize a dictionary in python with keys but no corresponding values until I set them. Such as:

Definition = {\'apple\':         


        

Answer 1

Based on the clarifying comment by @user2989027, I think a good solution is the following:

definition = ['apple', 'ball']
data = {'orange':1, 'pear':2, 'apple':3, 'ball':4}
my_data = {}
for k in definition:
  try:
    my_data[k]=data[k]
  except KeyError:
    pass
print my_data

I tried not to do anything fancy here. I setup my data and an empty dictionary. I then loop through a list of strings that represent potential keys in my data dictionary. I copy each value from data to my_data, but consider the case where data may not have the key that I want.