- 1[intransitive] trawl (for something) to fish for something by pulling a large net with a wide opening through the water
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- 2[transitive, intransitive] to search through a large amount of information or a large number of people, places, etc. looking for a particular thing or person trawl something (for something/somebody) She trawled the thrift shops looking for bargains. Major companies trawl the universities for potential hires. trawl (through something) (for something/somebody) The police are trawling through their files for similar cases.
trawl
verbNAmE//trɔl//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they trawl he / she / it trawls
past simple trawled
-ing form trawling
Check pronunciation: trawl