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
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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trolling
Verb
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Crews found the man inside the residence while searching through it and brought him outside, officials said.—
Nick Lentz,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
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Authorities are searching for Lynette Hooker by land, air and sea.—
Rebecca Cohen,
NBC news,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Tasks that once required advanced expertise—like scanning code for vulnerabilities or running attacks that require chaining multiple exploits together—are increasingly being automated or semiautomated by AI systems.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
10 Apr. 2026
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Another process that Wen thinks the chip could improve is scanning objects for 3D printing.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trolling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trolling. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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