trawl

1 of 2

verb

trawled; trawling; trawls

intransitive verb

1
a
: to fish with a trawl
b
: to make a search as if by trawling
2

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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Commercial fishing vessels trawling the waters off the coast of Taiwan pulled in several deep-sea creatures never before reported in the region. Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald, 10 June 2025 The story of a photographer, haunted by childhood guilt, who travels to remote Himalayan Sector K to investigate a mysterious phenomenon – this mystery/drama highlights the plight of children forced to work trawling through giant rubbish heaps in search of things that can be monetized. Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2025
Noun
Most were French-flagged, including small boats targeting shrimp and scallops, while 21 were large industrial vessels using heavy beam trawls to scrape the seafloor for flatfish. Daphne Ewing-Chow, Forbes.com, 8 June 2025 Their first success came when a 21 foot (6.5 meter) long male whale shark, accidentally caught in a trawl net near Sutrapada, was tagged and released. Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for trawl

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of trawl was in 1561

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Trawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trawl. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

trawl

1 of 2 verb
: 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

More from Merriam-Webster on trawl

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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