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This problem is faced by me often when I search something on Web.

When we don't know meaning of a word, we just refer a dictionary and understand it but what if I know how to describe a thing but don't know what word do we denote it by?

Do we have a word to represent such "reverse search"?

Example: Let's say I don't know the word "witch" but I know that there exist something known as "a woman having evil power", how to search such things on the web so that we can get the word witch?

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You might be looking for 'Reverse Dictionary'. This is a special dictionary that gives you words when you describe the phrase. It's a bit tricky to search here, but quite helpful.

The link is here - Reverse Dictionary

And if you search the exact phrase 'woman with ill power', you get a list of those words. Witch is the first one!

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  • if I type "haunted place" on it, the first thing it shows it is castle
    – Laschet Jain
    Commented Oct 27, 2015 at 9:26
  • because it gets confused. 'Haunted Place' might not be considered as 'description' as it says. And, don't consider that as the only and best tool. I mean it is helpful as compared to searching on Google the way you have been doing
    – Maulik V
    Commented Oct 27, 2015 at 9:30
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You need only to put "is called" at the end of your search and the word "definition" or "synonym" at the beginning. For example, type in your Internet search engine..."definition a woman having evil powers is called" - when I typed this in Google, I found the answer in the first link. The problem you will have is when there is more than one answer. You will need to ask an English speaker to know the most common word used.

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  • This is not working for a terrifying place is called. Sorry for using all ghostly descriptions.
    – Laschet Jain
    Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 19:40
  • I amended my answer. Try adding the word "definition" at the beginning.
    – KittyConsultant
    Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 19:46
  • Not working :( . Isn't definition used to define something?
    – Laschet Jain
    Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 19:48
  • When I type the following in Google --"Definition a terrifying place is called" -- I get " creepy" and "haunted." These are 2 words we would use for your description.
    – KittyConsultant
    Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 19:58
  • Yes that works if we describe properly. Thanks a lot :)
    – Laschet Jain
    Commented Oct 25, 2015 at 20:03

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