Which operator is used to exclude items in a search?

The operator used to exclude items in a search is "NOT." This logical operator allows you to filter out specific terms or items from your search results, thereby refining the information that is returned. When you include "NOT" followed by a term in your search query, the results will show all items that do not contain that term. For example, if you were searching for information on "cats" but wanted to exclude any mention of "Persians," you would search for "cats NOT Persians." This is particularly useful in research and data retrieval, as it helps in narrowing down the search results to more relevant matches by discarding unwanted information. This capability to modify search queries enhances the efficiency and accuracy of finding the desired information.