trawl

[ trawl ]

/ trɔl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trawl 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.

RELATED WORDS

troll, dragnet, drag, net, line, seine

Nearby words

Origin of trawl

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

Related formstrawl·a·ble, adjectivetrawl·a·bil·i·ty, noun

Can be confusedtrawl troll

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for trawl

He had seen enough to realize that pulling a trawl was no sinecure.
Jim Spurling, Fisherman|Albert Walter Tolman
Well, Mr. Trawl, perhaps you will explain your business with me in some less uncomfortable manner.
A Singular Life|Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Ah, Trawl, said the minister heartily, Im glad to see you here.
A Singular Life|Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
One ran for the hatchet to cut the trawl, and thus give steerage way to the smack.
For Name and Fame|G. A. Henty

Redcap was hauling her trawl when without any warning shrapnel burst on board.
Merchantmen-at-Arms|David W. Bone

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

Word Origin and History for trawl

trawl

1560s, from Dutch tragelen, from Middle Dutch traghelen "to drag," from traghel "dragnet," probably from Latin tragula "dragnet." Related: Trawled; trawling.