jQuery Ajax request to update a PHP variable

From: Nate Hill <nathanielhill_at_nyob> Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 14:08:42 -0800 To: CODE4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU

If I have in my PHP script a variable...

$searchterm = 'Drawing';

And I want to update 'Drawing' to be 'Cooking'  w/ a jQuery hover effect on
the client side then I need to make an Ajax request, correct?
What I can't figure out is what that is supposed to look like... something
like...

$.ajax({
  type: "POST",
  url: "myfile.php",
  data: "...not sure how to write what goes here to make it 'Cooking'..."
});

Any ideas?

-- 
Nate Hill
nathanielhill_at_gmail.com
http://www.natehill.net