browse

Browse is a verb with several related meanings centered on casual examination or consumption. The most common sense is to look through items in a leisurely, exploratory way, such as browsing a bookstore, a library catalog, or an online storefront. In this sense, browsing implies scanning options without committing to a choice, often followed by selectivity once a promising item is noticed. The noun browse can refer to the act itself or to the items observed during such an examination. In everyday language, people also say they are window-shopping or simply browsing.

In ecology and animal feeding, browse describes woody plant material eaten by herbivores, including leaves, shoots, or twigs. Browsing behavior differs from grazing on grass and can influence plant community composition and forest structure. Terms such as browse lines refer to the height to which animals feed on trees and shrubs.

In computing, to browse means to navigate information resources, especially the World Wide Web, using a web browser. A browser is the software program that retrieves, renders, and links content. Browsing may involve following hyperlinks, opening new tabs, or exploring linked topics.

The word’s sense of nibbling or grazing traces to its origins in Old English and related Germanic languages, where it described animals eating vegetation, later broadened to human perusal and exploration.