The word has made it into the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, as a transitive verb with a lower case "g". The dictionary defines it as: "to use the Google search engine to obtain information (as a person) on the World Wide Web".
Other new technology-related additions to the dictionary include "spyware", "ringtone" and "mouse potato", a term used to describe someone who spends too much time sitting in front of their computer. This a popular twist on the late 1990s "couch potato" entry.
This is not the first time Google has appeared in a dictionary; the Oxford English Dictionary included the word in its June update to its online version. They have defined the verb as: "To use the Google search engine to find information on the internet.
Merriam Webster editors scan publications looking for new words and their usages. It only took 5 years for the word google to gain its official status, which is remarkably quick; usually it takes 10 to 20 years. This shows the power of this google phenomenon.
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