Ask Jeeves
- proper noun
- Texting
:
Ask Jeeves
- Before Google became dominant, Ask Jeeves was famous for understanding natural language questions.
Examples
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In the early days of the internet, my parents always used Ask Jeeves to look up information.
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He recalls typing his homework questions into Ask Jeeves hoping for quick answers.
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Before Google became dominant, Ask Jeeves was famous for understanding natural language questions.
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I used to rely on Ask Jeeves for quick answers.
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Have you ever tried Ask Jeeves for your research?
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He recalls typing his homework questions into Ask Jeeves hoping for quick answers.
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In the early days of the internet, my parents always used Ask Jeeves to look up information.
Synonyms
A search engine you use to find answers by typing questions
Surface Forms
Morphology
ask + Jeeves
The verb 'ask' clearly signals that the expression involves posing questions, and 'Jeeves' being a proper name suggests a person or helper — so learners can infer it refers to someone/thing you ask. However, the specific identity as a brand-name web search engine (and the cultural reference to the fictional valet) is not derivable from the words alone, so the full meaning is not reliably predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Ask Jeeves is named after a clever fictional butler called Jeeves who was famous in old stories for always having the right answer, and the website let people type full 'questions' in plain English. So the name joined ask and Jeeves to give the simple image of a helpful servant that answers you, which is why it became the name of a search engine that answers 'questions' on the internet.
