1. words or phrases that are significant or important in a particular context, especially for searching or indexing information
Usage: computing; information science
2. the most important or essential words in a text or speech

Examples

• Enter keywords to search the database for relevant articles.
• The research paper included keywords at the bottom of the abstract.
• She highlighted the keywords in the passage to help her study.
• The website’s keywords help search engines find the content.
• Students should identify keywords in the essay question before writing.
• The librarian taught us how to use keywords effectively in our research.