trawl

1 of 2

verb

ˈtrȯl 

trawled; trawling; trawls

intransitive verb

1

a

: to fish with a trawl

b

: to make a search as if by trawling

2

: troll sense 1a

transitive verb

: to catch (fish) with a trawl

trawl

2 of 2

noun

1

: a large conical net dragged along the sea bottom in gathering fish or other marine life

2

: setline

Examples of trawl in a Sentence

Verb

The boat trawled far out at sea.

a fishing boat trawling the ocean floor

He trawled the Internet looking for websites on growing grapes.

She was trawling through old letters for information about her family.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Gay talks about it all the time, spending hours on the Internet, trawling blogs about the intricacies of extradition law. —Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024

So imagine my surprise in 2024, when trawling through the productivity and personal organization apps on that 200LX, to find a richly detailed first-person maze game based around cephalopods, of all things. —Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 9 July 2024

Noun

But with over 11,000 products and counting, there's a lot of stuff, reviews and explainers to trawl through. —Pema Bakshi, refinery29.com, 15 Feb. 2024

This could create a powerful incentive for such companies to think twice before dragging a trawl net through the internet and using artists' work without their explicit consent. —The Week Uk, theweek, 1 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

probably from obsolete Dutch tragelen

First Known Use

Verb

1561, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1759, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

trawl

1 of 2 verb

ˈtrȯl 

: to fish or catch with a trawl

trawl

2 of 2 noun

1

: a large cone-shaped net dragged along the sea bottom in fishing

2

: setline