Many search engines and databases use truncation symbols and wildcards to search for variant endings or forms of words, such as singulars and plurals, or to replace letters within words. For example:

The truncation optic? would find optic, optics, optical, etc. The use of a wildcard as in wom*n would find woman and women.

The symbols vary from one search engine to another and one database to another, so it is important to check the search tips or help screens provided. Two of the most common truncation and wildcard symbols are the question mark (?) and the asterisk (*).

Truncation and wildcards are useful for broadening a search, but they can also produce unintended results. When using truncation, you should be careful not to truncate the word too early. For example, if instead of optic? you searched for opt?, you would return results for terms such as optimal, optimism, optional and so on.