By default when getting the search menu, the currently highligted
text is the search term.
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/SearchDialog.py b/Lib/idlelib/SearchDialog.py
index 8d275c4..d7124d6 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/SearchDialog.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/SearchDialog.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
     return engine._searchdialog
 
 def find(text):
-    return _setup(text).open(text)
+    pat = text.get("sel.first", "sel.last")
+    return _setup(text).open(text,pat)
 
 def find_again(text):
     return _setup(text).find_again(text)