troll

¹ American  

[trohl] / troʊl /

verb (used with object)

• trolls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trolled,
  past participle,  past
• trolling
  present participle

1. to fish for or in with a moving line, either working the line up or down with a rod as in fishing for pike, or trailing the line behind a slow-moving boat.

   In September, boat anglers were starting to troll the river for salmon.

2. to move (the line or bait) continuously through the water while fishing, as from a moving boat.

   As his outboard chugged past the island, he trolled his line out fifty or sixty feet behind.

3. to browse through (the internet, a collection, etc.) in search of something.

   She spends her downtime trolling websites for holiday deals.

4. Informal.

   1. to post inflammatory, inappropriate, controversial, or polarizing messages on (the internet) for the purpose of cultivating animosity, upsetting others, or provoking a response.

   2. to upset or provoke (others) by posting such messages.

   3. to make such provocative comments about (others) in public.

      The actress was trolled on late-night TV.

5. to sing or utter in a full, rolling voice.

   Troll the ancient Yuletide carol.

6. to sing in the manner of a round or catch.

7. Archaic. to cause to turn round and round; roll.

8. Obsolete. to hand around, as a bowl of liquor at table.

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verb (used without object)

• trolls,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trolled,
  past participle,  past
• trolling
  present participle

1. to fish by trolling.

   We spent the day trolling for muskies.

2. to browse through the internet, a collection, etc., in search of something.

   I trolled through my photos for hours to find the best shots of the two of us.

3. Informal.

   1. to post inflammatory, inappropriate, controversial, or polarizing messages online for the purpose of cultivating animosity, upsetting others, or provoking a response.

      He props up his fragile ego by trolling on game sites, putting everybody else down.

   2. to make such provocative comments in public.

4. Archaic. to sing with a full, rolling voice; give forth full, rolling tones.

5. Archaic. to be uttered or sounded in such tones.

6. Archaic. to roll; turn round and round.

7. Archaic. to move nimbly, as the tongue in speaking.

noun

1. the act of trolling for fish.

2. a lure used in trolling for fish.

3. the fishing line containing the lure and hook for use in trolling.

4. Informal.

   1. a person who posts inflammatory, inappropriate, controversial, or polarizing messages online for the purpose of cultivating animosity, upsetting others, or provoking a response.

   2. a person who makes such provocative comments in public.

5. Archaic. a song whose parts are sung in succession; a round.

troll ² American  

[trohl] / troʊl /

noun

1. (in Scandinavian folklore) any of a race of supernatural beings, sometimes conceived as giants and sometimes as dwarfs, inhabiting caves or subterranean dwellings.

2. Slang. a person who lives or sleeps in a park or under a viaduct or bridge, as a derelict or poor person.

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troll ¹ British  

/ trəʊl /

verb

1. angling

   1. to draw (a baited line, etc) through the water, often from a boat

   2. to fish (a stretch of water) by trolling

   3. to fish (for) by trolling

2. to roll or cause to roll

3. archaic to sing (a refrain, chorus, etc) or (of a refrain, etc) to be sung in a loud hearty voice

4. informal (intr) to walk or stroll

5. slang:homosexual (intr) to stroll around looking for sexual partners; cruise

6. slang (intr) computing to post deliberately inflammatory articles on an internet discussion board

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noun

1. the act or an instance of trolling

2. angling a bait or lure used in trolling, such as a spinner

3. slang computing a person who submits deliberately inflammatory articles to an internet discussion

troll ² British  

/ trəʊl /

noun

1. (in Scandinavian folklore) one of a class of supernatural creatures that dwell in caves or mountains and are depicted either as dwarfs or as giants

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Usage

What does troll mean? A troll is someone who harasses other people online to try to get a negative reaction from them. To troll someone is to harass them. The online troll is related to the trolls of legend and fiction, supernatural creatures that live in caves or other underground places. In such stories, trolls are monsters that are unfriendly to humans and sometimes kidnap them. The online sense of troll likens such people to monsters lurking and waiting for the chance to harass others. As a verb, troll also means to fish along a moving line, such as a line that trails behind a moving boat. When you move the fishing line or bait on such a line, that too is to troll. Example: I trolled my fishing line a little and ended up catching a big fish.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• troller
  noun
• untrolled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• trolling
  present
• trolled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• troll
  simple
• trolls
  simple
• have trolled
  perfect
• has trolled
  perfect
• am trolling
  progressive
• are trolling
  progressive
• is trolling
  progressive
• have been trolling
  perfect progressive
• has been trolling
  perfect progressive

Past

• trolled
  simple
• had trolled
  perfect
• was trolling
  progressive
• were trolling
  progressive
• had been trolling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will troll
  simple
• will have trolled
  perfect
• will be trolling
  progressive
• will have been trolling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of troll¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English trollen “to roll, stroll,” from Middle French troller “to run here and there, ramble,” from Middle High German trollen “to walk or run with short steps”; troll ¹ defs. 4, 11, 19 are influenced by troll ² ( def. )

Origin of troll²

First recorded in 1610–20; from Old Norse troll “demon, fiend”

Explanation

A troll is a supernatural creature who is either very big or very small, ugly, and not very nice. You're most likely to read about a troll in a fairytale — perhaps trying to trick a beautiful princess into marrying him! You’ve probably come across a troll before, maybe in The Lord of the Rings. As a verb, to troll means to wander around. You may have heard of a trolley, which is a vehicle that helps you travel around a city. The word troll more generally refers to anything that repeats itself regularly. You might troll a city, searching for a trolley, or you might troll parts of a song, repeating them one after the other to annoy your neighbors!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

troll trolls trolled trolling

Courtney Love accused Charli of being a troll.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The first is that the wedding itself, scattered with Easter eggs like a mirror ball and a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, was engineered expressly to troll the media.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

Some judges call it a copyright troll that makes millions by threatening to out those who download its films.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

In fact, entire Reddit forums and YouTube channels are devoted to what’s called “scambaiting,” the practice of intentionally engaging with scammers to frustrate or troll them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

Mard, the girl troll, handed me a cup of what looked like steaming mud, or something worse.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

In true “defend forward” spirit, it can also help cut off foreign trolls and state-backed hackers from what’s needed to run an influence operation, like internet access, servers and accounts.

From Salon ● May 21, 2026

“What happened to him was unjust. These trolls came to our city and disrupted our way of life and they attacked him for clickbait purposes,” said Hang, who personally called Hochman about the case.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

The latest model had a tendency to mention other creatures as well: raccoons, trolls, ogres and pigeons, to be specific.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

Takahashi says legal action has "a deterrent effect" on online trolls, many of whom he says are in their teens or early 20s.

From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026

I looked on as the trolls wrestled and snorted and punched each other, almost enjoying the scene, until one troll suddenly sank down into the ground beneath some leaves.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

After last week’s debate, there was lots of social media posturing about who won and who trolled whom the best.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

“They trolled some pretty big names in our popular culture and in the business world,” Krim said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

The DHS official social media account then trolled Bryan with a video dehumanizing migrants set to his song “Revival.”

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2025

Recently, Kumar was trolled by a pair of influencers in New York.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025

We trolled up the lake beyond Stresa and then down not far from shore.

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

South Africans on social media were robust in their response to the trolling.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

Other analysts say the AI messaging could seek to rally his support base and campaign through trolling.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

The problem, cybersecurity researchers say, is that your trolling may be giving the scammer exactly what they want.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

The constant trolling for attention and approval is exhausting.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026

Maybe this anon is actually just trolling me.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli