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Asterisk vs Metacharacter - What's the difference?

asterisk | metacharacter |

As nouns the difference between asterisk and metacharacter

is that asterisk is symbol () while metacharacter is (computing) a character used to signify something other than its literal form, such as the asterisk when used as a wildcard.

As a verb asterisk

is to mark with an asterisk symbol (*).

asterisk

English

Alternative forms

* asterisc

Noun

(en noun)
  • Symbol ().
  • (sports, US) A blemish in an otherwise outstanding achievement.
  • They came into the tournament highly ranked, but with a little bit of an asterisk as their last two wins had been unconvincing.
  • (biology) Alternate of Asteriscus.
  • See also

    (typography marks)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To mark with an asterisk symbol (*)
  • Anagrams

    * ----

    metacharacter

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (computing) A character used to signify something other than its literal form, such as the asterisk when used as a wildcard.