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
The city maintains that the lid lifters, besides trolling for batteries and propane tanks, are part of an education program to help residents understand the city’s totally insane trash-sorting rules.
—
Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
If trolling your enemies on Instagram were an Olympic sport, 50 Cent would have a chestful of gold medals.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 13 Mar. 2026
Yet Fishback promotes conspiracy theories and trolling language against Jewish people.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
In critiquing Trump on social media, Newsom has taken to imitating the president’s tone, trolling Trump in his all-caps style.
—Meg Kinnard, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2026
After all, Schembechler never had to deal with NIL, the transfer portal and collegiate agents trolling the waters for recruits who want to jump ship.
—Chantel Jennings, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Long trolling Trump in what many view as the lead-up to a 2028 White House bid by the two-term Democrat, Newsom’s missive comes in all caps and with the over-the-top self-aggrandizement that is common to POTUS himself — which is often the point.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 7 Feb. 2026
Tony Romo got a little prophetic while trolling Swifties in 2023.
—Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Jan. 2026
The theme across his X activity was trolling Johnson while big-upping Perez and himself.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Inga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 Mar. 2026
If trolling your enemies on Instagram were an Olympic sport, 50 Cent would have a chestful of gold medals.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 13 Mar. 2026
Yet Fishback promotes conspiracy theories and trolling language against Jewish people.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
In critiquing Trump on social media, Newsom has taken to imitating the president’s tone, trolling Trump in his all-caps style.
—Meg Kinnard, Fortune, 3 Mar. 2026
After all, Schembechler never had to deal with NIL, the transfer portal and collegiate agents trolling the waters for recruits who want to jump ship.
—Chantel Jennings, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026
Long trolling Trump in what many view as the lead-up to a 2028 White House bid by the two-term Democrat, Newsom’s missive comes in all caps and with the over-the-top self-aggrandizement that is common to POTUS himself — which is often the point.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 7 Feb. 2026
Tony Romo got a little prophetic while trolling Swifties in 2023.
—Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Jan. 2026
The theme across his X activity was trolling Johnson while big-upping Perez and himself.
—Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trolling
Verb
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Cops are searching for multiple suspects wearing ski masks last seen fleeing the scene on foot.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
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With the Heat searching for answers amid its rough stretch, rookie guard Kasparas Jakucionis was not part of the roation on Monday.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Last month, cyber stocks fell after Anthropic announced a new code-scanning security tool to Claude.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
27 Mar. 2026
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Psarras spends the majority of his time slinking through space, scanning the highly detailed living room of opulence for the next steps of Tony’s grisly plan (the varied set design, which includes some ingenious touches with translucent walls, is by Ron Gasparinetti) .—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trolling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trolling. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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