Jump To:

• purse seine
  purse seine

  noun

  a large seine, for use generally by two boats, that is drawn around a school of fish and then closed at the bottom by means of a line passing through rings attached along the lower edge of the net.
• purse-seine
  purse-seine

  verb (used without object)

  to fish using a purse seine.

purse seine

¹ American  

noun

1. a large seine, for use generally by two boats, that is drawn around a school of fish and then closed at the bottom by means of a line passing through rings attached along the lower edge of the net.

2. a technique of fishing that utilizes a purse seine to capture large schools of fish, especially tuna.

---

purse-seine ² American  

[purs-seyn] / ˈpɜrsˌseɪn /

verb (used without object)

purse-seined, purse-seining

1. to fish using a purse seine.

---

purse seine British  

noun

1. a large net towed, usually by two boats, that encloses a school of fish and is then closed at the bottom by means of a line resembling the string formerly used to draw shut the neck of a money pouch or purse

---

Other Word Forms

• purse seiner
  noun

Etymology

Origin of purse seine

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

Many birds drown in purse seine nets each year.

From BBC • Oct. 14, 2025

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

From Seattle Times • Jan. 15, 2024

Sanfilippo moved smoothly through an introduction that touched on the various types of trawling - pair, midwater, purse seine, otter and gillnetting - and the basic terminology of net mending.

From Washington Times • Apr. 17, 2019

But purse seine boats, like the one where these Cambodians work, are common too.

From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2015

The purse seine is a deadly trap for schooling salmon.

From Poor Man's Rock by Johnson, Frank Tenney