How do you exclude a term from a search query?

To exclude a term from a search query, placing a dash symbol before the term is the appropriate method. This syntax is commonly used in search engines and databases to indicate that you want results excluding that specific term. For example, if you are searching for "law" but want to exclude results that include the word "criminal," you would enter "law -criminal" into the search bar. This tells the search engine to return results that include "law" while filtering out any results that mention "criminal."

The other methods mentioned do not serve the purpose of exclusion. A plus symbol before a term typically indicates that you want to include that specific term in your search. Placing an asterisk before a term is often used for wildcard searches to represent any number of characters, but it does not function to exclude terms. Finally, putting brackets around a term sometimes groups terms together, but it won’t exclude anything; rather, it focuses on the exact phrase enclosed in the brackets.