whatis

name	whatis
description	whatis — display one-line manual page descriptions

whatis Plugin

Display one-line manual page descriptions for commands and topics.

Commands

• whatis self version — Print whatis version
• whatis name lookup <name> — Display description for a command
• whatis name lookup-all <name> — Display all matching descriptions across sections
• whatis name lookup-section <section> <name> — Lookup in a specific section
• whatis _ _ [args] — Passthrough to whatis

Usage Examples

• Describe a command: whatis name lookup ls
• Check all sections for a name: whatis name lookup-all printf
• Lookup in section 3 (C library): whatis name lookup-section 3 printf
• Multiple names: whatis _ _ ls cp mv

Installation

Part of man-db, pre-installed on most Linux systems.