glob

glob /glob/, *not* /glohb/ vt.,n.  [UNIX] To expand
   special characters in a wildcarded name, or the act of so doing
   (the action is also called `globbing').  The UNIX conventions for
   filename wildcarding have become sufficiently pervasive that many
   hackers use some of them in written English, especially in email or
   news on technical topics.  Those commonly encountered include the
   following:

     *
          wildcard for any string (see also {UN*X})
  
     ?
          wildcard for any single character (generally read this way
          only at the beginning or in the middle of a word)

     []
          delimits a wildcard matching any of the enclosed characters

     {}
          alternation of comma-separated alternatives; thus,
          `foo{baz,qux}' would be read as `foobaz' or `fooqux'

   Some examples: "He said his name was [KC]arl" (expresses
   ambiguity).  "I don't read talk.politics.*" (any of the
   talk.politics subgroups on {Usenet}).  Other examples are given
   under the entry for {X}.  Note that glob patterns are similar,
   but not identical, to those used in {regexp}s.

   Historical note: The jargon usage derives from `glob', the
   name of a subprogram that expanded wildcards in archaic pre-Bourne
   versions of the UNIX shell.