search enginen.
/ˈsəːtʃ ˌɛn(d)ʒ(ᵻ)n/, U.S. /ˈsərtʃ ˌɛndʒən/ Computing.
A piece of hardware or software designed for searching, esp. a program that searches for and identifies items in a database that correspond to one or more keywords specified by the user; spec. such a program used to search for information available over the internet, using its own previously compiled database of internet files and documents. Cf. engine n. 11.
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society > computing and information technology > data > database > [noun] > access or retrieval > searching > means of
search engine1978
browser1980
navigator1988
crawler1994
1978 Computerworld 10 Apr. 4/3 Primary keys will handle production problems related to data while secondary keys called ‘search engines’ will speed the location of files within data bases.
1984 Amer. Libraries June 440/2 Notice the trend toward associative hardware search engines, e.g., GESCAN 2, a General Electric computer built specifically for searching rather than for general purposes.
1992 MacUser 21 Feb. 24/4 The product itself..is at core a search engine that allows files and folders to be found on an individual Mac, or on a network.
1999 Writing Mag. Dec. 31/2 According to the report search engines are biased toward sites that receive the most traffic.
2019 @kmmauthor 10 Jan. in twitter.com (accessed 22 Apr. 2020) Things I typed into a search engine today SO FAR: fun things to do with a projector, mini teacups, Judo. Hmmm!
Compounds
search engine optimization n. Computing the activity or process of maximizing the visibility of a website to users of a search engine; abbreviated SEO.Search engine optimization is typically achieved by tailoring the content and metadata of a website to the method of ranking employed by a particular search engine.
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1997 alt.current-events.net-abuse.spam (Usenet newsgroup, accessed 18 June 2013) 26 July This is what we call Search Engine Optimization..the Optimization of your web site to make the search engine(s) think your web site is one of the most relevant web sites in it's index for the relevant key word(s).
2000 L. Columbus Realizing E-business with Applic. Service Providers v. 84 The companies..use search engine optimization techniques for ensuring their sites are in the first twenty listed by search engines.
2020 Swindon Advertiser (Nexis) 14 Jan. Unlike quickly snatched videos for social media, these vlogs will be evergreen and created with search engine optimisation in mind.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1978