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.

---

search engine British  

noun

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

---

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.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• search engines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of search engine

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

The EU said Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison-shopping service in search results and demoting those of competitors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026

I mean, people have been scraping the whole web since the first search engine.

From Salon • Jun. 22, 2026

Geoff Saab was at a dental appointment when a client was chatting with the receptionist about search engine stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026

Other Chinese firms on the list include search engine platform Baidu, electric car marker Nio and aircraft manufacturer Comac.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

On a whim, I reach for the keyboard again and type “Bermuda” and “spearfishing” into the search engine.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller