search engine

American  

[surch en-juhn] / ˈsɜrtʃ ˌɛn dʒən /

noun

Digital Technology.

• search engines
  plural

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.

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search engine British  

noun

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

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search engine Cultural  

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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• search engines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of search engine

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

search engine

The European Parliament just switched its default search provider to a French service, called Qwant, to reduce reliance on American technology — but the search engine turns to Microsoft Bing for much of its results.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Many use the generative chatbot as a search engine, capable of answering questions with more detail, content and relevance than a regular Google search.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

"The best products should succeed because they're better, not because they're owned by the company running the search engine," she said.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

"As a result, the Google search engine is imposed as the default on Swiss users, without a 'choice screen' being displayed during the initial set-up."

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

Her hair still smelled like french fries from the restaurant, and she tied it back as she opened her search engine.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway