Proximity Search refers to a search method where the order of the search terms is taken into account.
Proximity Search can be used for different things depending on the application. For example, in a text document, one might use Proximity Search to find all occurrences of two terms where they are within a certain number of words from each other. In this case, proximity can be thought of as a measure of semantic relatedness. Another example might be searching for two terms that occur in the same sentence.
Proximity Search vs. other Search Methods
Proximity Search is somehow closely related to other search methods, like Boolean Search, Phrase Search, and Concept Search, but there are some important differences. Boolean Search only looks at whether the terms are present or absent, while Proximity Search also looks at the order of the terms. Phrase Search requires the terms to be in a specific order, while Proximity Search only requires that they be close to each other. Concept Search looks for terms that are semantically related, but it does not require that the terms be close to each other in the text, unlike Proximity Search.