Trivia Time

Which TV show is credited with being the first to use google as a verb?

Test Your Knowledge

Google

American  

[goo-guhl] / ˈgu gəl /

Trademark.

1. the brand name for a leading internet search engine, founded in 1998.

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verb (used with object)

Googled, Googling

1. (often lowercase) to search the internet for information about (a person, topic, etc.).

   We googled the new applicant to check her background.

verb (used without object)

Googled, Googling

1. (often lowercase) to use a search engine such as Google to find information, a website address, etc., on the internet.

Google British  

/ ˈɡuːɡəl /

noun

1. a popular search engine on the internet

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verb

1. to search for (something on the internet) using a search engine

2. to check (the credentials of someone) by searching for websites containing his or her name

Etymology

Origin of Google

First recorded in 1998; after mathematical term googol

Explanation

To google is to use an online search engine to find some piece of information. You might google your favorite author to find out what other books she's written. Searching the Internet for answers to questions, details about people, map directions, and other information is a common activity for most of us, and since the 1990s, most of us have come to use the verb google to describe it. The verb comes from the Google search engine, first active in 1997, although until about 2000 it was mostly used in the phrase "Do a google on."

Example Sentences

Demis Hassabis, head of Google DeepMind, the search giant’s AI arm, was in 2024 named by the Vatican to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026

Back in July 2023, Google searches for cottage cheese “rose to the highest levels recorded since 2004,” according to The New York Times.

From Salon • May 24, 2026

The most important chip company in AI, Nvidia, and its graphics processing units, arguably would not exist if not for the gaming industry, which also spawned pioneering AI lab Google DeepMind.

From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026

Alphabet’s Google and Blackstone agreed to set up an artificial-intelligence cloud group.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

He sits down at the computer and opens a Google search.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman