Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense trawls, present participle trawling, past tense, past participle trawled
1. verb
If you trawlthrough a large number of similar things, you search through them looking for something that you want or something that is suitable for a particular purpose.
[British]
A team of officers is trawling through the records of thousands of petty thieves. [VERB + through]
Her private secretary has carefully trawled the West End for a suitable show. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: search, go, look, check More Synonyms of trawl
Trawl is also a noun.
A trawl through the small print shows long-term investors will be worse off.
2. verb
When fishermen trawlfor fish, they pull a wide net behind their ship in order to catch fish.
They had seen him trawling and therefore knew that there were fish. [VERB]
We came upon a fishing boat trawling for Dover sole. [VERB + for]
[Also VERB noun]
More Synonyms of trawl
trawl in British English
(trɔːl)
noun sea fishing
1. Also called: trawlnet
a large net, usually in the shape of a sock or bag, drawn at deep levels behind special boats (trawlers)
2. Also called: trawl line
a long line to which numerous shorter hooked lines are attached, suspended between buoys
See also setline, trotline
3.
the act of trawling
verb
4. sea fishing
to catch or try to catch (fish) with a trawlnet or trawl line
5. (transitive) sea fishing
to drag (a trawlnet) or suspend (a trawl line)
6. (intransitive; foll byfor)
to seek or gather (something, such as information, or someone, such as a likely appointee) from a wide variety of sources
noun, verb
7. angling another word for troll1
Word origin
C17: from Middle Dutch traghelen to drag, from Latin trāgula dragnet; see trail
trawl in American English
(trɔl)
noun
1.
a large, baglike net dragged by a boat along the bottom of a fishing bank
: also ˈtrawlˌnet
2. US
a long line supported by buoys, from which many short fishing lines are hung
: also trawl line
3. Chiefly British
a thorough search
verb transitive, verb intransitive
4.
to fish or catch with a trawl
5. Chiefly British
to make a thorough search (of)
often with through
to trawl a biography for telling anecdotes
Word origin
< ? MDu traghel, dragnet < ? L tragula: see trail
Examples of 'trawl' in a sentence
trawl
More people are trawling the net this way.
The Sun (2014)
The website is well worth a trawl for all sorts of classic motoring memorabilia.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Some women love to trawl the high street on the off chance that something might catch their eye.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Much of that is the result of overfishing but the destruction of seabed habitats by trawl nets is also to blame.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
America and Australia are also trawling for information about their tax exiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
We'll be trawling for fish and plankton.
Oxenhorn, Harvey Tuning the Rig: A Journey to the Arctic (1990)
It will also trawl social networking sites for information on voters' habits and preferences.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
After trawling web car ads he found it on eBay.
The Sun (2008)
So, no need to trawl the high street!
The Sun (2011)
I have trawled the web and not found anything sufficiently stylish.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Because so many dealers are on the one spot, it is worth trawling to compare quality and price.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Instead of trawling the web or visiting multiple galleries, head to art fairs where you can browse different galleries under one roof.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Think of the hours that you'll save not trekking to the real high street and not trawling the internet for these sites individually.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It trawled the web vetting influential bloggers who also liked McDonald's.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
And if he does the latter, give him a real reason to trawl the web - walk away.
The Sun (2012)
They no longer have to trawl streets at random with their equipment to find vulnerable homes; they can now purchase software that can identify such households remotely.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Undeterred, I trawl the net for advice about what to do next.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
A source said last night: 'He said he was trawling the streets until he found one he fancied.
The Sun (2011)
As soon as he learnt he had cancer, Stone began trawling the net to fi nd out about the disease and what treatments were available.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In other languages
trawl
British English: trawl VERB
If you trawl through a large number of similar things, you search through them looking for something that you want or something that is suitable for a particular purpose.
A team of officers is trawling through the records of thousands of petty thieves.
American English: trawl
Brazilian Portuguese: vasculhar
Chinese: 搜索
European Spanish: buscar
French: ratisser
German: durchkämmen
Italian: passare al setaccio
Japanese: 徹底的に探す
Korean: 샅샅이 조사하다
European Portuguese: vasculhar
Latin American Spanish: buscar
(verb)
They are trawling through the records of thousands of petty thieves.
Synonyms
search
Armed troops searched the hospital yesterday.
go
look
Have you looked on the piano?
check
wade (informal)
sift
(noun)
Any trawl through their interviews will reveal incisive statements.
Synonyms
search
There was no chance of him being found alive and the search was abandoned.
look
She took a last look in the mirror.
check
hunt
The couple had helped in the hunt for the lost hiker.
glance
She stole a quick glance at her watch.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of glance
Definition
a quick look
She stole a quick glance at her watch.
Synonyms
peek,
look,
glimpse,
peep,
squint,
butcher's (British, slang),
quick look,
gander (informal),
brief look,
dekko (slang, old-fashioned),
shufti (British, slang),
gink (New Zealand, slang)
in the sense of hunt
Definition
the act or an instance of hunting
The couple had helped in the hunt for the lost hiker.