noun
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a vessel used for trawling
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a person who trawls
Etymology
Origin of trawler
Explanation
A trawler is a boat that's used for fishing. Trawlers drag large fishing nets behind them. The special nets used on trawlers are called trawls. Both words come from the Middle Dutch traghelen and its root, the Latin tragula, "dragnet." That's exactly what a trawler (also called a dragger) does—it drags a net behind it. Trawlers are controversial, because although strictly regulated, they can damage seabeds and accidentally catch fish that are endangered or too small.
Vocabulary lists containing trawler
The Stranger
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Novel Study: Touching Spirit Bear
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Into the Sunken City
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This modest trawler, the Rose of Nevada, no longer contains its doomed crew and yet here it is, without explanation and ready for new fishermen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
The end was drawing near in a nine-year fight for justice, in a case of modern slavery on a Scottish fishing trawler.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
Jens Frederiksen, who works at a fishing business in Nuuk running a big shrimp trawler, said there is a divide in opinion between those in the capital and those in other coastal areas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
It was a bitterly cold, windy day, and smaller boats had been banned from going out, but this trawler was deemed sturdy enough to withstand the gales.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025
At the far end of the dock, a Norwegian trawler was being loaded with provisions.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
