Expand Shorthand Meanings with the Acronym Finder

NTK* what an acronym stands for? The Acronym Finder is the place to search for abbreviated meanings, IMHO.

The Acronym Finder is a database of over 313,000 acronyms and abbreviations with their definitions.

According to Mike Molloy, who maintains the site, The Acronym Finder contains the web’s largest acronyms and abbreviations searchable database.

The database contains acronyms and abbreviations covering just about every imaginable subject that lends itself to jargon. There’s also a results refinement tool that lets you narrow down results for common acronyms for subject.

For example, a search for the acronym “AAA” returns 91 results. Depending on what you’re looking for, you can reorder the results using the following categories: most common, information technology, military & government, science & medicine, organizations, business & finance, slang & chat or alternative searches.

This makes it easier to differentiate the meaning for “airport airspace analysis” from the “alien adoption agency,” for example.

The database contains acronyms in many languages including French, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese and others. It can be searched using wildcards for both acronyms and within meanings, and keywords within meanings.

Molloy says the database is growing very rapidly, with an average of 200 new verified and edited definitions added each day.

You can also have some fun with the Systematic Buzz Phrase Projector, a tool that automatically generates new acronyms from automatically generated buzz phrases (my new acronym: PDC, which stands for Parallel Digital Contingency).

One downside of the Acronym Finder is that you have to put up with the annoying floating ads that obscure pages from time to time and must be closed manually to read what’s underneath. But since this comprehensive resource is provided at no charge, these ads are a relatively minor irritant if they help support the site.

* NTK = Need to Know

Search Headlines

NOTE: Article links often change. In case of a bad link, use the publication’s search facility, which most have, and search for the headline.

Trigg joins Yahoo in sales boost… Netimperative Oct 20 2003 12:38PM GMT

Adwords lands Google in the dock… Silicon.com Oct 20 2003 12:18PM GMT

Overture and MSN extend sponsored search deal… Computer Weekly Oct 20 2003 12:17PM GMT

Web Campaign ’04: Politicos Embrace Search, Adapt TV Spots To Broadband Video… Media Post Oct 20 2003 11:37AM GMT

Beyond the Verisign vs. ICANN Battle… Business Week Oct 20 2003 1:25AM GMT

Google Ordered to Pay Fine in French Trademark Case… Boston Globe Oct 18 2003 5:02PM GMT

Yahoo Adopts New Flash in a Flash… SiliconValley.Internet.com Oct 18 2003 10:28AM GMT

RIAA warns 204 more people it plans to sue This time, alleged file-sharers get advance notice… San Francisco Chronicle Oct 18 2003 10:13AM GMT

The future of storage is in the metadata–and always has been… ZDNet Oct 17 2003 11:33PM GMT

Apple iTunes Does Windows… and AOL… uk.internet.com Oct 17 2003 4:10AM GMT

Verisign Sells Domain Registration Biz… Boston.Internet.com Oct 17 2003 4:04AM GMT

Google keeps its hardware cheap, simple… IDGNet New Zealand Oct 17 2003 1:35AM GMT

VeriSign to restart controversial ‘404’ redirect service… Silicon.com Oct 16 2003 9:15AM GMT