trawled; trawling; trawls
1
a
: to fish with a trawl
b
: to make a search as if by trawling
2
: to catch (fish) with a trawl
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
Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
Somebody could probably figure out how to get into my apartment just from trawling from Gmail.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 4 Oct. 2024
Liat Clark, WIRED, 6 Dec. 2016
As played by Sutherland, Karl comes across as withdrawn but fundamentally decent, with an air of faint melancholy that might inspire a gal (or a viewer) to trawl for hidden depths.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See all Example Sentences for trawl 
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
Executives reviewed audition tapes and trawled TikTok and Instagram for candidates, then flew the most promising to L.A. for more than a year of rigorous training.
—Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
Somebody could probably figure out how to get into my apartment just from trawling from Gmail.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 4 Oct. 2024
Noun
Once a piece of media has been assigned this unique marker, that marker can be used to trawl through a network and seek out the matching piece of content in case it has been replicated elsewhere.
—Liat Clark, WIRED, 6 Dec. 2016
As played by Sutherland, Karl comes across as withdrawn but fundamentally decent, with an air of faint melancholy that might inspire a gal (or a viewer) to trawl for hidden depths.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See all Example Sentences for trawl
Dictionary Entries Near trawl
Cite this Entry
“Trawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trawl. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share