Synonym Operator at Google

Google has introduced a new operator, the tilde ~, for searching for synonyms. It should be placed immediately before a search term, with no space, for which you want Google to look for synonyms. For example, a search on query ~analysis finds matches with query statistics and query analyzer. A brief entry about ~ is available on their help page.

Using some of the technology behind the Google Sets, the ~ seems to include plural and singular forms as well as synonyms. Use the - operator to get a sense of what synonyms have been searched, as in ~hiking -hiking. Some of the automatically generated terms may not be helpful, but when you are not aware of the vocabulary in a field, this could be quite helpful.

Google review updated. I put the synonym operator under the Truncation section, since that is at least one use that can be made of it.