Final Answer:
Today, search engines can understand simple Boolean logic; you use a minus sign to exclude a term, which is the equivalent of using the NOT operator.
Step-by-step explanation:
Modern search engines have evolved to understand Boolean operators, allowing users to refine their searches with greater precision. The use of a minus sign before a term in a search query serves as the exclusion operator, indicating that results containing that specific term should be omitted. This is equivalent to using the NOT operator in Boolean logic.
For example, searching "cat -dog" will retrieve results related to cats while excluding those related to dogs. Understanding and employing these Boolean operators enhance search efficiency by filtering and tailoring search results to better match user intent.