as in searching
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
the owner of the bed-and-breakfast often trolls antique stores for furniture and knickknacks
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Recent Examples of trolling
When trolling for pike the Griz goes with Rapala Rattlin Raps or floating Rapala stick baits when the weeds are higher.
—
Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026
Nine days after the Negra Francisca sank, another Ecuadorean fishing boat was trolling the fertile fishing grounds off the Galapagos.
—Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026
But there’s something more than trolling at work, something elemental in the response to Scranton.
—Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
Further, Musk is accused of using the litigation as part of a harassment campaign trolling Altman.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 30 Apr. 2026
Stokes seems to enjoy trolling the media and public a bit, too.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026
Her third album, Sheezus (2014), saw her trolling her fellow music artists, including rapper Kanye West (Sheezus is a riff on his Yeezus).
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2026
Fuentes came of age in an ecosystem of edgelord posting and trolling in-jokes.
—Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Newsom prioritizes trolling Trump over governing.
—FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2026
Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026
Nine days after the Negra Francisca sank, another Ecuadorean fishing boat was trolling the fertile fishing grounds off the Galapagos.
—Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2026
But there’s something more than trolling at work, something elemental in the response to Scranton.
—Literary Hub, 14 May 2026
Further, Musk is accused of using the litigation as part of a harassment campaign trolling Altman.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 30 Apr. 2026
Stokes seems to enjoy trolling the media and public a bit, too.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026
Her third album, Sheezus (2014), saw her trolling her fellow music artists, including rapper Kanye West (Sheezus is a riff on his Yeezus).
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2026
Fuentes came of age in an ecosystem of edgelord posting and trolling in-jokes.
—Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Newsom prioritizes trolling Trump over governing.
—FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trolling
Verb
-
Haley Williams, a spokesperson for the police department, told the Idaho Statesman in a text message that officers are searching the area for the driver of the vehicle who fled the scene.—
Alex Brizee,
Idaho Statesman,
23 June 2026
-
To better understand what drives a young person to commit these crimes, CNN spent months searching for prior offenders willing to speak about their experience.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
22 June 2026
Verb
-
This is the cohort that grew up skipping lines, scanning QR codes, ordering from phones and treating friction as a brand failure.—
Gabriel Alin Zainescu,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2026
-
Those scanning the skies over the East River this summer may spot something unfamiliar — a cargo drone schlepping packages between the Downtown Skyport in lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Marine Terminal just south of Brooklyn Bridge Park.—
Anne Kadet,
Curbed,
19 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trolling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trolling. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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