    def exists?(word, options=nil)
      options = options || @options

      return false unless word.is_a?(String)

      word = word.dup
      word.strip! if options[:strip_whitespace]

      return false if word.empty?

      if block? word
        return false if options[:single_word_mode]
        return block_exists? word
      end
      
      return true if options[:ignore_numeric] && number?(word)
      return false if options[:exclude_alphabet] && word.length == 1 && @alphabet_exclusion_list.include?(word.upcase)

      valid_word? word
    end