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

But to do even that is requiring engineers to build a new, more sophisticated generation of software robots, known as crawlers, to trawl the Web’s vast and varied content. —IEEE Spectrum, 28 Feb. 2011

Executives reviewed audition tapes and trawled TikTok and Instagram for candidates, then flew the most promising to L.A. for more than a year of rigorous training. —Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024

Noun

That is then followed up by an extensive trawl through the character’s history. —Echo Apsey, Rolling Stone, 5 Dec. 2024

To make their pick, experts at the Pantone Color Institute trawl through high-fashion runways, interior design trends, pop culture moments and human psychology. —Jack Guy, CNN, 5 Dec. 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