verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
-
to search for (something on the internet) using a search engine
-
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Leading AI developers have met with the Trump administration in recent months, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta, according to reports.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
A Google Maps image show children’s play equipment outside that home, and on a recent visit there was an above-ground pool.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Alphabet is another: Google Cloud is growing rapidly, its backlog is expanding and AI is increasingly being monetized across search, cloud and enterprise software.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Disclosure: Google and Punchbowl News have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
After the Google Glass sighting, Gazzaley, his girlfriend, and Dan the guitarist, each pull out their cell phones.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
He told me the name, and I Googled it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
Is there something you Googled in the process of making the show where you were like, “Did this really happen?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
Wordle was originally created and developed by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle in 2021 and acquired by the NYT in 2022, when it was also the most Googled word of the year.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
This small act of attention helps prevent the classic mid-recipe surprise: the unannounced overnight rest, the last-minute need for a tool you don’t own, the technique you wish you’d Googled earlier.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2025
Felix Googled expensive dog stuff and found puppy perfume that cost three thousand dollars.
From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty
“I started Googling it–that’s when I discovered the bad news,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
"You're Googling stuff that you think you already know and then you kind of tick the box after that saying, oh, I've already done my work for today, my therapy work with ChatGPT," he says.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Barrios Gracián’s training consisted of a free entrepreneur course through the city of Anaheim, a video by the American Booksellers Assn., talking to other bookstore owners and Googling “how to open a bookstore.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025
After Googling “Eric” and “Dominion,” Oltmann concluded that the speaker was Eric Coomer.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2025
While Miele was still in the hospital, she was on the Internet, Googling stents.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
