The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

search algorithm

    Any algorithm for identifying a solution to a
   problem (a search problem) out of a space of potential
   solutions by considering several potential solutions until one
   is found that meets certain criteria.

   See A* search, beam search, best-first search,
   breadth-first search, depth-first search.

   (2007-11-03)