Method and apparatus for generating lexical synonyms for query terms

摘要

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that considers lexical synonyms for terms while processing a query. During operation, the system receives a query containing one or more terms. Next, the system identifies one or more lexical synonyms for the one or more terms. The system then generates an altered query using the one or more lexical synonyms and processes the altered query to produce search results.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving a query comprising a first term; identifying, by one or more computers, one or more synonyms for the first term, wherein identifying the one or more synonyms comprises:
determining that the first term and a second term satisfy predetermined criteria associated with a particular class of related terms,in response to determining that the first term and the second term satisfy the predetermined criteria, selecting a threshold that is different from a default threshold, wherein the default threshold is a threshold that is used to evaluate terms that do not satisfy the predetermined criteria associated with the particular class of related terms,generating a score for the first term and the second term by evaluating a relationship between the first term and the second term, anddetermining that the second term is a synonym of the first term based on applying the generated score to the selected threshold; generating an altered query using the second term; and processing the altered query to produce search results.