search engine

[ surch en-juhn ]

noun

, Digital Technology.

1. a computer program that searches documents, especially on the World Wide Web, for a specified word or words and provides a list of documents in which they are found.

search engine

noun

1. computing a service provided on the internet enabling users to search for items of interest

search engine

1. Web sites or software that search the Internet for documents that contain a key word, phrase, or subject that is specified by the user to the search engine. Each engine has its own method of searching for information.

Word History and Origins

Origin of search engine¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Judge Mehta said in his ruling in August that the default search engine was "extremely valuable real estate" for Google.

From BBC

The industry’s dominant web browser — it controls about 61 percent of the U.S. market, according to Bloomberg — is a potent data-collection portal, steering people to the company’s search engine.

From New York Times

To try to establish where the videos had first appeared publicly, we ran several frames from each through search engines.

From BBC

Meanwhile, their website was "ranking completely normally" on other search engines, but that didn't really matter, according to Shivaun, as "everyone's using Google".

From BBC

At a bar on the outskirts of Canterbury students here know the limits, and say they only use AI as an aid, like they might a search engine.

From BBC