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Language Foundation

browse

To search through files and folders on a computer or other storage location in order to find and select one.

In plain English

This means looking through stored items to locate the one needed. You move among files and folders in a computer or other storage place until one is found and chosen.

In context

Here, "browse" labels the action of looking through files and folders in storage to find and select one.

Situation
Creating, saving, sharing, versioning, and restoring files
What it communicates
labels the action for opening a file-selection dialog.

Meaning limits

By itself, the term does not identify the specific storage location or the particular item being sought.

Examples

“She browsed the folders on the shared drive and selected the latest draft.”

Core meaning

“After the upload box appeared, he browsed the USB stick for the scanned receipt.”

In context

  • search Broader Term

    Searching is the wider activity; this sense is one way of doing it among stored items.