Americans were stumped by covfefe, DACA, and bitcoin, according to Google's top 'What is' searches this year (GOOG)

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

We've all started a Google search by typing the words "what is" into the empty box.

But what do people type after those two words?

As part of its end-of-the-year recap, Google compiled the most popular queries of 2017 that used the "what is" phrase.

The results reflect a tumultuous year in politics, natural disasters, and protests. Americans took to the search engine to learn about topics like DACA, the Paris Climate Agreement, antifa, and net neutrality. 

Here's the complete list of the top ten Google searches in the US beginning with the phrase "what is:"

American's searched for further clarification on hurricanes following Hurricane Harvey, the costliest disaster to hit the US in history, and Hurricane Irma, which was one of the strongest hurricanes to cross the Atlantic basin.   

In June, President Trump announced his intent to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement and Americans took to the internet to learn more about the controversial move. 

In April, the fidget spinner craze swept across the US. As early as May, it was estimated that more than 200 million spinners had been shipped to US retailers.

The internet's fixation with the antikythera mechanism stemmed from a Google Doodle which graced Google's landing page in May. The doodle depicted the antikythera mechanism, an archaic computational relic that was used to track the solar system as early as 85 B.C. It was originally discovered in 1902. 

"Covfefe" is still the biggest mystery of the year. The search for "what is covfefe" was inspired by an inexplicable, fragmented tweet posted by President Trump in May: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe"

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