A single term will return only those documents that include that exact term:
permit
must contain the word "permit"
Multiple terms will return only those documents that include at least one of the exact terms:
taxicab cat
must contain the word "taxicab" or the word "cat", may contain both
(Note: In more complex searches, "or" may also be indicated with parentheses; see COMBINTATIONS below.)
A phrase surrounded by quotation marks will return only those documents that include the exact phrase within the quotes:
"taxicab permit"
must contain the phrase "taxicab permit"
A plus symbol before a term will return only those documents that include that term:
permit +taxicab
may contain the word "permit", must contain the word "taxicab"
+permit +taxicab
must contain both the word "permit" and the word "taxicab"
A minus symbol before a term will return only those documents that exclude that term:
taxicab -permit
must contain the word "taxicab" but cannot contain the word "permit"
(Note: A minus symbol before every term will return zero documents.)
An asterisk after a word will return any documents that include the exact series of letters in that word:
cat*
must contain a word including the letters C-A-T (e.g., "cat", "cats", "bobcat")
Combine the above to create more precise searches:
dog* -vicious
must contain a word including the letters D-O-G (e.g., "dog", "dogs", "watchdog") but cannot contain the word "vicious"
+"vicious dog" -rabi*
must contain the phrase "vicious dog" but cannot contain any words including the letters R-A-B-I (e.g., "rabies", "rabid", "severability")
+permit -taxicab -cat
+permit -(taxicab cat)
must contain the word "permit", but cannot contain either the word "taxicab" or the word "cat"
+permit +(taxicab cat)
must contain both the word "permit" and either the word "taxicab" or the word "cat", may contain all three.