Description

what – means in a google query ?

What – means in a Google query? The tiny dash that can change everything

You’re staring at the crossword, the 3-down clue reads:
“What – means in a Google query?”
Four letters. You scribble NOT and move on—puzzle solved.

But hold on. That little dash (or hyphen) is more than crossword filler. In Google-land it’s the exclusion operator, a miniature lightsaber that slices unwanted noise from your search results. Let’s go beyond the puzzle grid and see how this single keystroke—and a handful of its operator cousins—can turn you from casual searcher into search samurai.

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### Why the dash matters
Google’s default setting is “include everything that might be relevant.” Great for serendipity, terrible for precision. The dash (a minus sign with no space before the word) tells the algorithm, “Hey, skip anything that contains this term.”

Example:
You want info on jaguars—the cat, not the car.
jaguar -car -F-type -XE
Boom. No glossy dealership photos, just big cats and wildlife sanctuaries.

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### Operator cheat-sheet (bookmark this)
Think of each operator as a filter you’d snap onto a camera lens.

| Operator | What it does | Quick example |
|———-|—————|—————|
| **-word** | Exclude pages that contain *word* | `best laptops -gaming` |
| **”exact phrase”** | Match those words side-by-side | `”climate change report 2023″` |
| **site:** | Limit results to one domain | `paris population site:census.gov` |
| **filetype:** | Hunt for PDFs, PPTs, XLS, etc. | `filetype:pdf ukulele chord chart` |
| **OR** (caps) | Either this or that | `python OR ruby developer salary` |
| **intitle:** | Word must appear in the title | `intitle:recipe intitle:mole` |
| **AROUND(n)** | Words near each other in text | `google AROUND(3) antitrust` |

Pro tip: Combine them.
`”machine learning” filetype:pdf site:mit.edu -course` finds MIT PDFs on machine learning but skips course syllabi.

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### Everyday hacks you’ll actually use

1. Recipe refinement
`vegan chocolate cake -nuts -gluten site:serious eats`
Gets you that slice of heaven without the allergens.

2. News vetting
`”health benefits of coffee” -site:dailymail.com`
Removes clickbait while keeping the science.

3. Price hunting
`rtx 4070 price -amazon -ebay site:reddit.com`
Surfaces real-user price checks instead of vendor listings.

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### Crossword bonus round

Next time you see clues like:
– “Search minus (4)” → NOT
– “Google file suffix filter (8)” → FILETYPE
– “Site-specific search prefix (4)” → SITE

…you’ll fill the grid in seconds—and know exactly how to wield the power behind each answer.

—

### Your challenge tonight

Open a new tab, type one of these combos, and watch the irrelevant web disappear:

“`
“remote work statistics” 2023 -forbes -statista
“`

Then grin—you just used the same dash that fooled you in the crossword.