Final answer:
The wildcard character used to search for alternate endings of a word in databases is the asterisk (*). It allows for a broad search by including various forms of the word.
Step-by-step explanation:
To search for alternate endings of a word in most databases, you can use the wildcard character known as the asterisk (*) symbol. For example, if you're looking to find words such as 'compute', 'computer', or 'computing', you could simply type in 'comput*' in the search field. This technique is particularly helpful when you want to conduct a broad search that includes various word forms.