If you want the index of the element, this will do it:
int index = list.Select((item, i) => new { Item = item, Index = i })
.First(x => x.Item == search).Index;
// or
var tagged = list.Select((item, i) => new { Item = item, Index = i });
int index = (from pair in tagged
where pair.Item == search
select pair.Index).First();
You can't get rid of the lambda in the first pass.
Note that this will throw if the item doesn't exist. This solves the problem by resorting to nullable ints:
var tagged = list.Select((item, i) => new { Item = item, Index = (int?)i });
int? index = (from pair in tagged
where pair.Item == search
select pair.Index).FirstOrDefault();
If you want the item:
// Throws if not found
var item = list.First(item => item == search);
// or
var item = (from item in list
where item == search
select item).First();
// Null if not found
var item = list.FirstOrDefault(item => item == search);
// or
var item = (from item in list
where item == search
select item).FirstOrDefault();
If you want to count the number of items that match:
int count = list.Count(item => item == search);
// or
int count = (from item in list
where item == search
select item).Count();
If you want all the items that match:
var items = list.Where(item => item == search);
// or
var items = from item in list
where item == search
select item;
And don't forget to check the list for null in any of these cases.
Or use (list ?? Enumerable.Empty<string>()) instead of list.
Thanks to Pavel for helping out in the comments.