--- title: Zing can expand search results with synonyms description: Expand search results to include additional search terms. locale: en-US canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/search-synonyms-expand-results.html release: australia product: Search Administration classification: search-administration topic_type: concept last_updated: "2026-03-12" reading_time_minutes: 3 breadcrumb: [Zing text indexing and search engine, Search administration, Configure core features, Administer the ServiceNow AI Platform] --- # Zing can expand search results with synonyms Expand search results to include additional search terms. By default, Zing includes a sample synonym dictionary consisting of a list of synonym sets \(synsets\). Zing supports two types of synonym sets. |Synonym set type|Description|Example| |----------------|-----------|-------| |Synonym list|A synonym list is a list of words separated by commas. When a search uses any word from the list, Zing expands the search to include all words in the list.|Cyber,Internet,Cybercafe| |Synonym map|A synonym map is two word lists separated by the equal and greater than characters => . When a search uses any word from the list on the left, Zing expands the search to include all words from the list on the right. When a search uses a word from the list on the right, Zing doesn't expand the search to include terms from the list on the left.|IOT,Internet of Things=>Chip,Nest thermostat,RFID,IOT| ## Search results, synonym expansion and weighting In search results, documents containing the original search keywords have a higher score than documents containing the search synonyms. For example, documents with the search keyword `IOT` have a higher score than documents with the synonym `Internet of Things`. - One-way synonym expansion to/from multiple terms `(blork, cork => malork, elastic)` works as expected. `Blork` and `cork` both expand to `malork` and `elastic`. - Multi-level one-way expansion `(blork => cork => malork)` doesn't work transitively. Neither `blork` nor `cork` expands to `malork`. - Multi-level one-way expansion split between multiple synonym set records `(blork => cork)(cork => malork)` doesn't work transitively. Only `cork` expands to `malork`, `blork` only expands to `cork` but not `malork`. By default, synonyms don't use the same weight as regular search terms. Synonyms are only weighted at 10% of the default search weight. Additionally, multiple instances of a synonym in a single doc/field don't increase the search weight. The weight of synonyms is controlled by the property **glide.ts.synonym.expanded.boost**. When this property value = 1, synonyms are weighted equally to normal search terms. 0.5 = 50% weight etc. ## Wildcard characters and synonym matching Zing doesn't expand the `%` and `*` wildcard characters when looking for synonyms that match your search term. These characters are treated as literal characters when finding matching synonyms. As an example, if you search for `issu*`, Zing doesn't find synonyms for `issue`, but it does find synonyms for `issu*`. - **[Enable search synonyms](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/enable-text-index-synonyms.md)** Enabling text index synonyms allows Zing to expand text searches with additional search keywords. - **[Create synonym dictionaries](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/create-synonym-dictionaries.md)** You can create synonym dictionaries to expand Zing text searches with additional search keywords. - **[Select synonym dictionaries for a table](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/select-synonym-dictionaries.md)** Search administrators can specify one or more synonym dictionaries available to a particular table. - **[Disable synonyms for a table](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/disable-synonyms-for-a-table.md)** By default, Zing uses all active synonym dictionaries when a user performs a text search. Search administrators can disable synonym dictionary usage on a per-table basis. - **[Debug synonym searches](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/debug-synonym-searches.md)** You can view debug messages to determine if synonym searches are working as expected. **Parent Topic:**[Zing text indexing and search engine](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/c_ZingTextSearch.md) **Related topics** [Features of Zing text indexing and search engine]() [Available search options]() [Global search finds records from multiple tables]() [Zing generates search results in four phases]() [Zing filters search results with access controls]() [Zing computes document scores using three components]() [Zing indexes words]() [Zing can include attachments in search results]() [Zing removes stop words from queries]() [Zing matches derived words with stemming]() [Zing displays search suggestions as users enter search terms]() [Installed with Zing]()