Use NOT in front of any search expression to reverse its meaning. This allows you to exclude documents from a search. Example:
| apple sauce and not pear |
NOT standing alone can be the start of a search request. For example, not pear would retrieve all documents that did not contain pear.
If NOT is not the first connector in a request, you need to use either AND or OR with NOT:
| apple or not pear |
| not (apple w/5 pear) |
The NOT W/ ("not within") operator allows you to search for a word or phrase not in association with another word or phrase. Example:
| apple not w/20 pear |
Unlike the W/ operator, NOT W/ is not symmetrical. That is, apple not w/20 pear is not the same as pear not w/20 apple. In the apple not w/20 pear request, the search engine searches for apple and excludes cases where apple is too close to pear. In the pear not w/20 apple request, the search engine searches for pear and excludes cases where pear is too close to apple.