gill net

American  

[gil] / gɪl /

noun

1. a curtainlike net, suspended vertically in the water, with meshes of such a size as to catch by the gills a fish that has thrust its head through.

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gill net British  

/ ɡɪl /

noun

1. fishing a net suspended vertically in the water to trap fish by their gills in its meshes

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Etymology

Origin of gill net

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Are we not warmed by the same ultraviolet rays, quenched by the same pirated water, ensnared in the same gill net of freeways?

From Los Angeles Times

Balearic shearwaters are long-lived but Critically Endangered mainly because of declines driven by fisheries by-catch, as they can get caught on baited longline hooks and gill nets.

From Science Daily

Their wiggling catch arrives alive, not smushed as in a purse seine, or ripped and bleeding from a gill net.

From Seattle Times

The critically endangered vaquita has been imperiled by illegal gill net fishing for the fish totoaba, itself an endangered species whose bladder is highly valued in Asia.

From Reuters

The vaquitas are caught and drown in illegal gill nets set for Totoaba, a Gulf fish whose swim bladder is considered a prized delicacy in China, worth thousands of dollars per pound.

From Seattle Times