dragnet

noun

drag·​net ˈdrag-ˌnet 

1

a

: a net drawn along the bottom of a body of water

b

: a net used on the ground (as to capture small game)

2

: a network of measures for apprehension (as of criminals)

Examples of dragnet in a Sentence

Nine suspects were caught in the police dragnet.

Recent Examples on the Web

The majority, as is typical in emergency or shadow docket decisions, provided no explanation for its order overturning a district court ruling that had blocked ICE’s immigration dragnets in Los Angeles as racially discriminatory. —Ronald Brownstein, Mercury News, 23 Sep. 2025

Show more The strategy was to use facial recognition technology in hopes that innocent people who might look similar to the suspect were not caught unjustly in a dragnet, the spokesperson said. —Matt Lavietes, NBC news, 14 Sep. 2025

Among those caught in the digital dragnet was Parida Qabylqai, an ethnic Kazakh pharmacist at a military hospital in Xinjiang. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025

Tom Hogen-Esch, a professor of political science at Cal State Northridge, sees political parallels in the current moment, a time when the Trump administration’s mass immigration dragnet has swept the nation, hitting California — indeed, Padilla’s own hometown of Pacoima — hard. —Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 3 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1528, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for dragnet

• abet
• asset
• baguette
• banquette
• barbette
• beget
• beset
• brevet
• briquette
• brunet
• brunette
• burette

Kids Definition

dragnet

noun

drag·​net ˈdrag-ˌnet 

1

: a net dragged along the bottom of a body of water

2

: a series of planned actions for catching a criminal