# .selector

## selector ( ) Returns: String version added: 1.3

Description: A selector representing selector passed to jQuery(), if any, when creating the original set.

The `.selector` property was deprecated in jQuery 1.7 and is only maintained to the extent needed for supporting `.live()` in the jQuery Migrate plugin. It may be removed without notice in a future version. The property was never a reliable indicator of the selector that could be used to obtain the set of elements currently contained in the jQuery set where it was a property, since subsequent traversal methods may have changed the set. Plugins that need to use a selector string within their plugin can require it as a parameter of the method. For example, a "foo" plugin could be written as `$.fn.foo = function( selector, options ) { /* plugin code goes here */ };`, and the person using the plugin would write `$( "div.bar" ).foo( "div.bar", {dog: "bark"} );` with the `"div.bar"` selector repeated as the first argument of `.foo()`.