Hybrid search
Using keyword search and meaning search together.
The fuller definition
Hybrid search combines retrieval approaches, commonly lexical and vector search, to improve coverage across exact wording and related meaning.
Related phrasing can be nearby in an embedding space. Real embeddings have many dimensions, and the model determines similarity. Nearby does not mean legally relevant or factually correct.
A concrete example
A system combines hits for a contract ID with passages semantically related to cancellation.
The distinction that matters
Combining methods does not guarantee complete recall; ranking and filtering still need evaluation.
Related terms
Where it is taught
How document-grounded AI answers workSource and further reading
Sentence Transformers · Semantic searchThe definition and example are written for this library. The link gives background, official documentation or legal authority as labelled. Legal scope depends on the jurisdiction and current text; product features depend on release and settings.