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

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

Links to the chats, some of which included personal and work information, would show up if a user of a search engine like Google used a site-specific search term.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Advertising spending is resilient, and the AI overviews Google has added to its search engine are boosting traffic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

"This new practice by Google could affect the ability of search engine providers and, more broadly, other digital service providers to compete," it said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

Quickly I type Nathan’s name into a search engine.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan