troll

¹ American  

[trohl] / troʊl /

verb (used with object)

• trolls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trolled,
  past participle,  past
• trolling
  present participle

1. to fish for or in with a moving line, either working the line up or down with a rod as in fishing for pike, or trailing the line behind a slow-moving boat.

   In September, boat anglers were starting to troll the river for salmon.

2. to move (the line or bait) continuously through the water while fishing, as from a moving boat.

   As his outboard chugged past the island, he trolled his line out fifty or sixty feet behind.

3. to browse through (the internet, a collection, etc.) in search of something.

   She spends her downtime trolling websites for holiday deals.

4. Informal.

   1. to post inflammatory, inappropriate, controversial, or polarizing messages on (the internet) for the purpose of cultivating animosity, upsetting others, or provoking a response.

   2. to upset or provoke (others) by posting such messages.

   3. to make such provocative comments about (others) in public.

      The actress was trolled on late-night TV.

5. to sing or utter in a full, rolling voice.

   Troll the ancient Yuletide carol.

6. to sing in the manner of a round or catch.

7. Archaic. to cause to turn round and round; roll.

8. Obsolete. to hand around, as a bowl of liquor at table.

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verb (used without object)

• trolls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trolled,
  past participle,  past
• trolling
  present participle

1. to fish by trolling.

   We spent the day trolling for muskies.

2. to browse through the internet, a collection, etc., in search of something.

   I trolled through my photos for hours to find the best shots of the two of us.

3. Informal.

   1. to post inflammatory, inappropriate, controversial, or polarizing messages online for the purpose of cultivating animosity, upsetting others, or provoking a response.

      He props up his fragile ego by trolling on game sites, putting everybody else down.

   2. to make such provocative comments in public.

4. Archaic. to sing with a full, rolling voice; give forth full, rolling tones.

5. Archaic. to be uttered or sounded in such tones.

6. Archaic. to roll; turn round and round.

7. Archaic. to move nimbly, as the tongue in speaking.

noun

1. the act of trolling for fish.

2. a lure used in trolling for fish.

3. the fishing line containing the lure and hook for use in trolling.

4. Informal.

   1. a person who posts inflammatory, inappropriate, controversial, or polarizing messages online for the purpose of cultivating animosity, upsetting others, or provoking a response.

   2. a person who makes such provocative comments in public.

5. Archaic. a song whose parts are sung in succession; a round.

troll ² American  

[trohl] / troʊl /

noun

1. (in Scandinavian folklore) any of a race of supernatural beings, sometimes conceived as giants and sometimes as dwarfs, inhabiting caves or subterranean dwellings.

2. Slang. a person who lives or sleeps in a park or under a viaduct or bridge, as a derelict or poor person.

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troll ¹ British  

/ trəʊl /

verb

1. angling

   1. to draw (a baited line, etc) through the water, often from a boat

   2. to fish (a stretch of water) by trolling

   3. to fish (for) by trolling

2. to roll or cause to roll

3. archaic to sing (a refrain, chorus, etc) or (of a refrain, etc) to be sung in a loud hearty voice

4. informal (intr) to walk or stroll

5. slang:homosexual (intr) to stroll around looking for sexual partners; cruise

6. slang (intr) computing to post deliberately inflammatory articles on an internet discussion board

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noun

1. the act or an instance of trolling

2. angling a bait or lure used in trolling, such as a spinner

3. slang computing a person who submits deliberately inflammatory articles to an internet discussion

troll ² British  

/ trəʊl /

noun

1. (in Scandinavian folklore) one of a class of supernatural creatures that dwell in caves or mountains and are depicted either as dwarfs or as giants

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Usage

What does troll mean? A troll is someone who harasses other people online to try to get a negative reaction from them. To troll someone is to harass them. The online troll is related to the trolls of legend and fiction, supernatural creatures that live in caves or other underground places. In such stories, trolls are monsters that are unfriendly to humans and sometimes kidnap them. The online sense of troll likens such people to monsters lurking and waiting for the chance to harass others. As a verb, troll also means to fish along a moving line, such as a line that trails behind a moving boat. When you move the fishing line or bait on such a line, that too is to troll. Example: I trolled my fishing line a little and ended up catching a big fish.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• troller
  noun
• untrolled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• trolling
  present
• trolled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• troll
  simple
• trolls
  simple
• have trolled
  perfect
• has trolled
  perfect
• am trolling
  progressive
• are trolling
  progressive
• is trolling
  progressive
• have been trolling
  perfect progressive
• has been trolling
  perfect progressive

Past

• trolled
  simple
• had trolled
  perfect
• was trolling
  progressive
• were trolling
  progressive
• had been trolling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will troll
  simple
• will have trolled
  perfect
• will be trolling
  progressive
• will have been trolling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of troll¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English trollen “to roll, stroll,” from Middle French troller “to run here and there, ramble,” from Middle High German trollen “to walk or run with short steps”; troll ¹ defs. 4, 11, 19 are influenced by troll ² ( def. )

Origin of troll²

First recorded in 1610–20; from Old Norse troll “demon, fiend”

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Explanation

A troll is a supernatural creature who is either very big or very small, ugly, and not very nice. You're most likely to read about a troll in a fairytale — perhaps trying to trick a beautiful princess into marrying him! You’ve probably come across a troll before, maybe in The Lord of the Rings. As a verb, to troll means to wander around. You may have heard of a trolley, which is a vehicle that helps you travel around a city. The word troll more generally refers to anything that repeats itself regularly. You might troll a city, searching for a trolley, or you might troll parts of a song, repeating them one after the other to annoy your neighbors!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

troll trolls trolled trolling

The first is that the wedding itself, scattered with Easter eggs like a mirror ball and a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, was engineered expressly to troll the media.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

It may sound fun to troll those text scammers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

Spencer Pratt is a showboat, a loudmouth, a troll and a self-proclaimed villain who seems willing to say anything in his quest to be the next mayor of Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026

Also present is Johnathan Lee Riches, a veteran troll and convicted scammer, who—after finishing a prison term for wire fraud—has successfully rebranded as an investigative journalist.

From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026

The troll grabs at Autumn, but she dodges.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Some draw internet trolls but far more garner dozens of supportive replies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

You must be prepared to stridently defend it to the trolls.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

As she’s recently learned, it’s an adventure that sails smack into islands of musky internet trolls and clashes with cinematic and literary titans like Christopher Nolan and Joyce Carol Oates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

One can, on the internet, even encounter trolls akin to the golem versions of real people that we see in the film.

From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026

I kept thinking of that pile of magical objects and how the trolls could smell magic.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

True to his provocative reputation, he recently trolled an OpenAI executive on social media after she accidentally plugged Meta’s new app in a television appearance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

"Serious political messaging, packaged as reels, can still be trolled."

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

After last week’s debate, there was lots of social media posturing about who won and who trolled whom the best.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

For two years, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson oversaw work on a documentary about a hip-hop rival he has personally trolled on the internet for even longer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025

We trolled up the lake beyond Stresa and then down not far from shore.

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

Without a trolling motor, the CrossWave is at a disadvantage, close to shore.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Last year, she called for Jay's Law to prevent the online trolling of grieving families.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Akhter has faced online trolling since the video took off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

They square the circle of Swift masterminding a full-scale trolling of media and fans while simultaneously hosting a cotton-candy celebrity circus.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

There is a jowly woman hanging her wash across the alley with a trolling motion of rope.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

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