--- title: Democratic Debate: These Words Were Searched For Most description: Some words trended on Dictionary.com because of their context to the debate. canonical: https://time.com/4209647/democratic-debate-definitions-word-searches/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-05T18:33:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:48:44.214Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Words People Looked Up During the Democratic Debate og:description: The debate left a few people scrambling for a dictionary. og:url: https://time.com/4209647/democratic-debate-definitions-word-searches/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3f100d205a63acc/69887bc08e06016bb0464697/timepol-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Sanders Clinton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Words People Looked Up During the Democratic Debate twitter:description: The debate left a few people scrambling for a dictionary. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3f100d205a63acc/69887bc08e06016bb0464697/timepol-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here Are the Words People Looked Up During the Democratic Debate by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 5, 2016 6:33 PM UTC  Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, participate in a Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 17, 2016. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, participate in a Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 17, 2016.Andrew Burton—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Feb 5, 2016 6:33 PM UTC Some viewers had to open a dictionary during Thursday’s Democratic debate. [Dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com) provided TIME with a list of the most-searched definitions during the debate between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Here’s what viewers looked up. **Word:** [_corporate_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/corporate?s=t) **Definition:** _(adjective)_ of, for, or belonging to a corporation or corporations. **Debate Usage:** The word “corporate” was used six times at the debate, helping drive a 466% increase in Dictionary.com users searching for it. At the heart of Sanders main argument is the removal of corporate money out of politics and prosecuting those responsible for the 2008 stock market crash. “The current trade agreements over the last 30 years were written by corporate America, for corporate America, resulted in the loss of millions of decent-paying jobs, 60,000 factories in America lost since 2001, millions of decent-paying jobs; and also a downward spiral, a race to the bottom where employers say, “Hey, you don’t want to take a cut in pay? We’re going to China,” Sanders said. **Word:** [_autocracy_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/autocracy?s=t) **Definition:** _(noun)_ government in which one person has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others. **Debate Usage:** Sanders was asked to discuss an editorial in the Des Moines _Register_ that called for a recount after a narrow victory Clinton victory at the Iowa caucuses—including some sites where a [coin flip decided the winner](http://time.com/4204049/iowa-caucus-coin-toss-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/). The word saw a 363% jump in searches. “What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy,” read the Des Moines _Register_. **Word:** [_Taliban_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/taliban?s=t) **Definition:** _(noun)_ a Muslim fundamentalist group in Afghanistan. **Debate Usage:** Clinton and Sanders were questioned by moderators on troop removal from Afghanistan. Clinton said the situation on the ground was too delicate to blindly advocate for a removal of forces before a full assessment, “because it’s not just the Taliban. We now are seeing outposts of, you know, fighters claiming to be affiliated with ISIS.” **Word:** [_ratification_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ratification?s=t) **Definition:** _(noun)_ confirmation; sanction. **Debate Usage:** A 56% increase in searches for ratification was possibly due to a discussion about trade deals. Sanders said that he did would not support a trade deal as president, while Clinton opted for the right deal at the right time. Other words that were searched more than usual: [_Pandering_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pander), [_partner_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/partner?s=t), [_sine qua non_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sine-qua-non?s=t), [_de facto segregation_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/de-facto-segregation?s=t) and [_petroleum_](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/petroleum?s=t). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4209647/democratic-debate-definitions-word-searches/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4209647/democratic-debate-definitions-word-searches/"},"headline":"Here Are the Words People Looked Up During the Democratic Debate","datePublished":"2016-02-05T18:33:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:48:44.214Z","description":"Some words trended on Dictionary.com because of their context to the debate","url":"https://time.com/4209647/democratic-debate-definitions-word-searches/","keywords":["Debates","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3f100d205a63acc/69887bc08e06016bb0464697/timepol-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3f100d205a63acc/69887bc08e06016bb0464697/timepol-bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Sanders Clinton","caption":"Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, participate in a Democratic debate on Jan. 17, 2016 in Charleston, S.C.","creditText":"Andrew Burton—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4209647/democratic-debate-definitions-word-searches/","name":"Here Are the Words People Looked Up During the Democratic Debate"}}]}] ```