trawl

1 of 2

verb

ˈtrȯl How to pronounce trawl (audio)
trawled; trawling; trawls

intransitive verb

1
a
: to fish with a trawl
b
: to make a search as if by trawling
2
: troll sense 2a

transitive verb

: to catch (fish) with a trawl

trawl

2 of 2

noun

1
: a large conical net dragged along the sea bottom in gathering fish or other marine life
2
: setline

Examples of trawl in a Sentence

Verb The boat trawled far out at sea. a fishing boat trawling the ocean floor He trawled the Internet looking for websites on growing grapes. She was trawling through old letters for information about her family.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Most damage to the undersea cables that form the Internet’s backbone is the result of accidents involving bottom-trawling fishing nets and ship anchors dragging on the seabed, with storms and undersea landslides also factoring in. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026 Gunnar Knapp, a professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Anchorage and a prominent fishery economist, told me that the trawling issue has become about more than just fishing regulations. — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
Noun
Last year, a poll found that almost three-quarters of Alaskans supported a trawl ban. — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026 And while the species can’t legally be harvested anymore, they’re still occasionally swept up in gill nets and trawls, which could be contributing to their slow recovery. — Asia London Palomba, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for trawl

Word History

Etymology

Verb

probably from obsolete Dutch tragelen

First Known Use

Verb

1561, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

1759, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of trawl was in 1561

Rhymes for trawl

See All Rhymes for trawl

Browse Nearby Words

travoy
trawl
trawlability
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Trawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trawl. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

trawl

1 of 2 verb
ˈtrȯl How to pronounce trawl (audio)
: to fish or catch with a trawl

trawl

2 of 2 noun
1
: a large cone-shaped net dragged along the sea bottom in fishing
2
: setline

More from Merriam-Webster on trawl

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about trawl

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of Pyrrhic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All