A query is an operation that retrieves data from one or more tables or views. In this reference, a top-level query is called a Select statement, and a query nested within a Select statement is called a subquery.

A subquery is a query expression that appears in the body of another expression such as a Select, an Update, or a Delete statement. In the following example, the second Select statement is a subquery:

SELECT * FROM emp WHERE deptno IN
  (SELECT deptno FROM dept)