search engine

American  

[surch en-juhn] / ˈsɜrtʃ ˌɛn dʒən /

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.

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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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Etymology

Origin of search engine

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

The operator of China’s dominant search engine beat analysts’ estimates for adjusted net income in the first quarter.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

The dashboard includes a search engine to find violations tied to specific addresses, as well as a map showing more than 44,000 properties with complaints against them.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

And the bots we interact with have a separate trick borrowed from humans: They look things up on Google or some other search engine.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

The European Union is asking Google to share its search engine data with competitors.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

“IT’S A NIGHTMARE,” Alex groaned, keying in Travel Agents in the Internet search engine.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr