Adjacent Words

trawl definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a long fishing line with many shorter lines and hooks attached to it (usually suspended between buoys) [syn: trawl, trawl line, spiller, setline, trotline]
2: a conical fishnet dragged through the water at great depths [syn: trawl, dragnet, trawl net] v
1: fish with trawlers

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: probably from obsolete Dutch tragelen Date: 1561 intransitive verb 1. a. to fish with a trawl b. to make a search as if by trawling 2. troll 2a transitive verb to catch (fish) with a trawl II. noun Date: 1759 1. a large conical net dragged along the sea bottom in gathering fish or other marine life 2. setline

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. a fish with a trawl or seine. b seek a suitable candidate etc. by sifting through a large number. 2 tr. a catch by trawling. b seek a suitable candidate etc. from (a certain area or group etc.) (trawled the schools for new trainees). --n. 1 an act of trawling. 2 (in full trawl-net) a large wide-mouthed fishing-net dragged by a boat along the bottom. 3 (in full trawl-line) US a long sea-fishing line buoyed and supporting short lines with baited hooks. Etymology: prob. f. MDu. traghelen to drag (cf. traghel drag-net), perh. f. L tragula

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trawl Trawl, v. i. [OF. trauler, troller, F. tr[^o]ter, to drag about, to stroll about; probably of Teutonic origin. Cf. Troll, v. t.] To take fish, or other marine animals, with a trawl.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Trawl Trawl, n. 1. A fishing line, often extending a mile or more, having many short lines bearing hooks attached to it. It is used for catching cod, halibut, etc.; a boulter. [U. S. & Canada] 2. A large bag net attached to a beam with iron frames at its ends, and dragged at the bottom of the sea, -- used in fishing, and in gathering forms of marine life from the sea bottom.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(trawls, trawling, trawled) 1. 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. (BRIT) A team of officers is trawling through the records of thousands of petty thieves... Her private secretary has carefully trawled the West End for a suitable show. VERB: V through n, V n 2. When fishermen trawl for 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... We came upon a fishing boat trawling for Dover sole. VERB: V, V for n, also V n

Moby Thesaurus

angle, bait, bait the hook, birdlime, bob, bola, clam, cobweb, dap, dib, dibble, drag, draggle, dragnet, draw, drive, fish, fishhook, fly, fly-fish, gig, gill net, go fishing, grig, ground bait, guddle, hale, haul, heave, hook, jack, jacklight, jig, lariat, lasso, lime, lug, lure, meshes, net, noose, plug, pound net, pull, purse seine, seine, shrimp, snake, snare, sniggle, spin, spinner, springe, squid, still-fish, take in tow, toils, torch, tow, trail, train, troll, tug, whale, wobbler