Using the Google Glossary

Even more definitions are available when you use the Google Glossary feature. Google Glossary is what Google calls it, anyway; really, it's just another advanced search operator that produces some very specific results.

The operator in question is define:. Use this operator before the word you want defined, with no spaces between. So, for example, if you want to define the word "defenestrate," enter the query define:defenestrate, as shown in Figure 9.4.

Figure 9.4. Searching for definitions with the define: operator.

When your query includes the define: operator, Google displays a special definitions page, as shown in Figure 9.5. This page includes all the definitions for the word that Google found on the Web; click a link to view the full definition.

Figure 9.5. Results of a search using the define: operator.

Depending on the word you're searching for, Google might recognize one or more related words or phrases. If so, Google displays these related phrases as a series of links at the top of the definition results page, as shown in Figure 9.6, for a search based on the term "bluetooth." Click a link to initiate a search for that related word or phrase.

Figure 9.6. Sometimes Google recognizes related phrases to the one you're searching for.

And here's something else to know. If you want to define a phrase, use the define: operator but put the phrase in quotation marks. For example, to define the phrase "peer to peer", enter the query define:"peer to peer", as shown in Figure 9.7.

Figure 9.7. Searching for the definition of a phrase.

Tip

If you enter the keyword definenot the define: operatorwith a space between it and the word you want defined, Google returns the same results as if you entered a "what is" query.

Commentary: Relying On Third-Party Information

Google is, without a doubt, a search site. It doesn't purport to be a content site, as some search portals have tried to evolve into. Google is all about searching for information, not about providing proprietary content.

While this purity of purpose is notable (and one of the defining features of the Google experience), it means that when you want standard reference information, Google has to direct you elsewhere. This is what happens when you search Google for word definitions; Google serves up the search results, but you have to click through to another site to read the actual definition.

This is in contrast to how some other sites handle the same process. For example, Yahoo! licenses dictionary information from Houghton Mifflin's American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language and feeds dictionary search results directly from its own Yahoo! Education site (education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/). You can search for a definition and view that definition without ever leaving the Yahoo! site. With Google, on the other hand, you only do your searching on the Google site; Google hands you off to any number of third-party sites to view definitions.

I'm not sure which approach is best. The all-in-one Yahoo! dictionary results are very convenient, but Google offers a wider variety of definitions from multiple websites. Google's approach is a bit of a trade-off that ensures a lack of editorial prejudiceeven if it requires a little more clicking (and comparing) on your part.