key·word

[kee-wurd]
noun
1.
a word that serves as a key, as to the meaning of another word, a sentence, passage, or the like: Search the database for the keyword “Ireland.”
2.
a word used to encipher or decipher a cryptogram, as a pattern for a transposition procedure or the basis for a complex substitution.
3.
Also called catchword. Library Science. a significant or memorable word or term in the title, abstract, or text of an item being indexed, used as the index entry.
Also, key word.


Origin:
1855–60; key1 + word

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To keywords
Collins
World English Dictionary
keyword (ˈkiːˌwɜːd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a word used as a key to a code
2.  any significant word or phrase, esp a word used to describe the contents of a document

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Keywords is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Example sentences
Then you select the keywords that will determine which searchers see your ad.
While computers have long been able to identify strings of keywords, anyone
  who's used a search engine can testify to its limits.
The content is distilled into keywords, which are used to find relevant sites
  during searches.
Search engines are pretty good at matching keywords with relevant websites.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT