Printer FriendlyWildcards ( * and ! )
The asterisk ( * ) and the exclamation mark ( ! ) are special characters, called wildcards or universal characters. Use them to find variations of a word or different spellings of a term.
Asterisk ( * )
Use the * to replace a letter or letters in a word. You can use more than one * in a word, and you can use it anywhere in a word except for the first letter.
bernst**n
finds the "ei" or "ie" spelling of the name
wom*n
finds "woman" and "women"
bank***
finds any word beginning with "bank" and which has no more than three letters after the k; will pick up "banker" and "banking," but will not pick up "bankrupt" or "bankruptcy"
Exclamation Mark ( ! )
Use the ! to replace an unlimited number of letters in the middle of a word or at the end of a word.
litigat!
finds variations of the word litigate (litigator, litigated, litigation, litigating)
acqui!
finds variations of the word acquire (acquired, acquiring, acquisition)
book!
finds book or bookkeeper, but does not find book-keeper or book keeper because these are read as two separate words
m!c
retrieves any word that starts with m and ends with c (music, mechanic, magic)
NOTE:
Words that work best with ! are those that are unique in their truncated form. For example, if you search for fir! (thinking that you want to find fired, firing, or fires), your results will also include first, firm, and so on.
