trawl

/trɔl/
noun
  1. A large net dragged through water to catch fish.
    • A trawl can catch many fish at once, but it also catches unwanted species.
    • The crew hauled the trawl onto the deck.
    • The fishermen repaired the torn trawl before the next trip.
  2. A thorough search or review, especially for information.
    • The journalist did a trawl through old newspapers for the story.
    • A trawl of the archives revealed the missing document.
    • After a quick trawl of the library, she found the book she needed.
verb
  1. To fish by dragging a large net through the water behind a boat.
    • They trawled the lake all morning but caught very little.
    • Commercial ships often trawl in deep ocean areas.
    • The fishing boat trawled the coastal waters for cod.
  2. To search through something thoroughly, often in a systematic way, especially for information or items.
    • She trawled the classified ads to find an apartment.
    • I trawled the internet looking for cheap flights.
    • The detective trawled through the database for any clues.
Synonyms
What does "trawl" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean