google

The word “google” means to search for information about something online, especially using the Google search engine. In plain terms, to look something up online, or the name of the company/search engine that made this common.

“Google” is pronounced GOO-guhl (/ˈɡuː.ɡəl/ in IPA).

Here is “google” used in a sentence: “I googled the restaurant before we went.”

Depending on how it is used, “google” can be a verb and a name.

The word “google” dates back to around 100. From the company name Google, itself derived from "googol," a term for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.

“Google” is a very common word in modern English.

“Google” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to search for information about something online, especially using the Google search engine.

Yes. Although Google began as the brand name of a search engine, "to google" has become an accepted verb meaning to look something up online. It entered major dictionaries around 2006. Written lowercase, it is used generically — many people say they will "google it" even when using a different search engine.

"Search" is the general term for looking for information anywhere — a library, a database, or the web. "Google" is a specific, informal way of saying you searched online, named after the dominant search engine. Googling is a kind of searching, but the word implies a quick web lookup rather than any formal research.

When "Google" refers to the company or brand, it is capitalised. As a general verb meaning to search online, it is usually written lowercase — "I'll google that" — because it is being used as an ordinary word rather than a name. This shift from brand to everyday verb is called genericisation.

You might say, "I didn't know the answer, so I googled it," or "Google the restaurant to check its opening hours." It works in past and present tense — googling, googled, googles. In each case it simply means looking something up online, typically by typing a query into a search engine.