trawl

[ trawl ]

/ trɔl /

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See synonyms for: trawl / trawling on Thesaurus.com

noun

Also called trawl net . a strong fishing net for dragging along the sea bottom.

Also called trawl line . a buoyed line used in sea fishing, having numerous short lines with baited hooks attached at intervals.

verb (used without object)

to fish with a net that drags along the sea bottom to catch the fish living there.

to fish with a trawl line.

to troll.

verb (used with object)

to catch with a trawl net or a trawl line.

to drag (a trawl net).

to troll.

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Origin of trawl

1475–85; <Middle Dutch tragel (noun), tragelen (v.); cognate with trail

OTHER WORDS FROM trawl

trawl·a·ble, adjectivetrawl·a·bil·i·ty, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH trawl

trawl , troll

Words nearby trawl

travertine, travesty, Travis, travois, travolator, trawl, trawler, tray, tray agriculture, traymobile, tray table

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use trawl in a sentence

Just as humans have industrialized farming with large, AI-powered tractors and sprawling monocultures, we’ve also figured out how to harvest massive quantities of fish with large nets, trawls, and dredges.
Climate scientists should pay more attention to fish poop. Really.|Benji Jones|October 8, 2021|Vox
Every accessible square meter of the North Sea was being hit approximately twice per year by a trawl.
The Human Error Darwin Inspired - Issue 90: Something Green|Aaron Hirsh|September 30, 2020|Nautilus
Why, I offered to thrash him and his two boys only three weeks ago, for hanging around after dark where I had a trawl set.
The Rival Campers Afloat|Ruel Perley Smith
Indeed, the pelicans enclosed the fish with their united wings in a regular line as close and compact as a trawl or drag-net.
In the Wilds of Florida|W.H.G. Kingston

There is some ship-building, some brewing, with oyster and trawl fishing; the fishery engages nearly seven hundred persons.
The Cornwall Coast|Arthur L. Salmon
Five soundings were taken, and, on July 9, the trawl was put over in three hundred and forty-five fathoms.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
We had been driving before a light westerly wind, when the trawl caught on the bottom and stopped the vessel.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson

British Dictionary definitions for trawl

trawl

/ (trɔːl) /

noun sea fishing

Also called: trawl net a large net, usually in the shape of a sock or bag, drawn at deep levels behind special boats (trawlers)

Also called: trawl line a long line to which numerous shorter hooked lines are attached, suspended between buoysSee also setline, trotline

the act of trawling

verb

sea fishing to catch or try to catch (fish) with a trawl net or trawl line

sea fishing (tr) to drag (a trawl net) or suspend (a trawl line)

(intr foll by for) to seek or gather (something, such as information, or someone, such as a likely appointee) from a wide variety of sources

noun, verb

angling another word for troll 1

Word Origin for trawl

C17: from Middle Dutch traghelen to drag, from Latin trāgula dragnet; see trail

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

trawl

Origin of trawl

OTHER WORDS FROM trawl

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH trawl

Words nearby trawl

Words related to trawl

How to use trawl in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for trawl

Word Origin for trawl