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

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”

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

In fact, entire Reddit forums and YouTube channels are devoted to what’s called “scambaiting,” the practice of intentionally engaging with scammers to frustrate or troll them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

He doesn’t need to troll internet comments to fuel his game.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 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

We aren't doing this to troll those of you who are Arsenal fans.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026

I squint at the shadows under the bridge, where my master sits grinning like a troll.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

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

The latest model had a tendency to mention other creatures as well: raccoons, trolls, ogres and pigeons, to be specific.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

“What happened to him was unjust. These trolls came to our city and disrupted our way of life and they attacked him for clickbait purposes,” said Hang, who personally called Hochman about the case.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

Aiava, who reached a career-high singles ranking of 133 and last played doubles at the Australian Open in January, has often been the target for online trolls.

From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026

Thor had gone to the east to fight trolls.

From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman

It was here Meghan said she had been "the most trolled person in the world" for 10 years and shared stories of being attacked and bullied online for a decade.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

“They trolled some pretty big names in our popular culture and in the business world,” Krim said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

The DHS official social media account then trolled Bryan with a video dehumanizing migrants set to his song “Revival.”

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2025

Rapper 50 Cent — who has trolled Combs on social media since disturbing allegations against the Bad Boy Records founder first surfaced in late 2023 — offered a less formal take on the verdict.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2025

The string of cars trolled up Water Street through a bright spring day.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Other analysts say the AI messaging could seek to rally his support base and campaign through trolling.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

The problem, cybersecurity researchers say, is that your trolling may be giving the scammer exactly what they want.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

You could say that it’s great that Dylan has prompted these larger public discussions about artificial intelligence and large language models, or you could think that Bob is trolling people simply because he can.

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

But it’s a campaign video in support of mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt that has taken trolling the opposition to new heights, or perhaps lows.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

I was trolling the Internet in search of something with some real content, not just a bunch of flashy graphics, when I came across an article you wrote entitled "Defining Geekdom."

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz